Marshall Mg10Cf Mg Series 10 Watt Guitar Combo Amp For Sale (2024 Update)

This has a nice look, but thats about it. There is a loud electric buzz regardless of settings, instruments, or cables that is hard to overlook. The controls have little variability. power cord is short. I\d say either buy a big real amp, or a different brand. I miss my behringer and my orange box ampsCujo_rock

I am not a performer or anything like that, but this is probably a great practice amp which is what I use it for. I personally like the sound, be it on the clean side or the overdrive. I have not mastered it yet but I can get the sound I want out of it. I use it in a smaller room, probably 15×15 and it's pretty loud. Is it a beast that'll blow your sox off??? probably not, but look at the spec's and decide for yourself. I wanted a practice amp that had some overdrive and a little power. I think this works greatxxIce Coldxx

I bought this for a child to use with a 3/4 size strat. It is the perfect size for that use. The amp functions just fine, nothing wrong with it. The sound is not impressive on the clean channel but it's useable, the OD channel is not bad. If he wanted to play mostly with distortion I would keep this amp, but he is going to be playing clean most of the time, so I'm returning this one in exchange for a Fender Frontman. If you want Marshall distortion in a small package this is not a bad buy, but If you plan to use the clean channel quite a bit, I would suggest something else. I also don't like the fact that this amp has no bass or treble controls, and you will miss them terribly on the clean channel because it needs them pretty bad. The OD is decent as-is, but the cleans need tweaking and you can't do it.Johnny

I bought this amp to have a small, cheap portable amp to play harmonica through. For that, it is decent enough. I use a Shure bullet mic and the amp produces good enough tone and is plenty loud for practice or small gigs. When I plug my tele into it the clean channel is decent and clear, but the overdrive channel is junk and hurts my ears. I would rather run the clean channel and use a fuzz or distortion pedal. So that being said it is decent enough to practice licks on and it is tiny so it tucks away easy. If you look around you can find a bigger amp with more features used for the same price but if you want a new amp, this one is probably worth what they charge for it. I would only buy it if you have a specific purpose for it though.Roy

It's small, and pretty portable. However, the sound quality is trash, given the speaker is tiny, but the overdrive is just horrible. If you buy this, try returning it. If you can't return it, just get a fuzz pedal and leave it on clean. Imo, just buy the mustang lt25-50Hotdog Games

Great amplifier, especially for the money. First of all it is an amazing pedal platform amp with nice bass and mid response. Everything I've run into it sounds really good, and it's near breakup gain is gain on 10 and boost off. It is most like a JTM45, it has a lot more bass and more active tone controls than later Marshall amplifiers like the JCM900 I previously owned. It doesn't overdrive too much on its own, but if you push it with a booster, it does pretty well. It is loud, even in the low power setting, and to really get it to drive, you need to push the power amp. It also doesn't seem to have as much drive as I remember from trying a 50 watt version, but that may have been the guitar more than the amp. Great value, I would recommend it to anyone looking for what I just described. If you want something that sounds like a Super Lead, Super Bass, or JCM800, this is not the right thing to buy. If you want a great pedal platform or early Marshall sound, you can't beat it.Craig

I've had My Marshall Origin for about 6 months and I've been pleasantly surprised. I've been a Les Paul/Marshall guy for 40 years and I have the hearing loss to prove it but this Marshall has it all. This versatile 20 watt head is the perfect combination of versatility and guts.This Amp is perfect for pedals as it great grand daddies were, I use an J Rockett Archer Ikon Klon clone, An OCD a Tone City King of Blues and an original Electro harmonics LPB-1 booster. I can go from crystal clear bell like tones to Ace's plexi grind to the verge of jCM 800 tones or straight in crank the Gain and get that sweet traditional Marshall tone and attack. Unlike the Marshalls of old the EQ section greatly influences the color of this Head and along with the tilt control which replaces the need to jump channels from the Hi and Lo inputs its all there. The addition of the switchable effects loop is a huge plus as is the gain/Boost control which gives you that little extra edge for leads. Running the amp on full and using your guitars volume and tone controls gives you a lot of versatility as well. The adjustable power out put feature is nice for quiet practice but I prefer to use my Bugera PS-1 attenuator and keep my amp volume on 10, just a personal preference. A suggestion, I've used this head with 1×12 and 2×12 cabinets an it sounds good but when i finally plugged it into a 4×12 this amp took on a whole new personality. The 4×12 let this amp breathe and with the EH LPB-1 driving the front end and a little reverb I had ACE's Kiss alive tone dead on by using the gain boost and a little color from various pedals the tone possibilities a vast. All in all this amp would be a great deal at twice the price, marshall once again did it right.Miggs

For classic rock lovers looking for those delicious, Super Lead Plexi-type tones (think classic rock from the 60's and 70's–Hendrix, Zeppelin, AC/DC, Aerosmith, etc.), this amp is for you! I am totally blown away with this amp for the price. I'm glad I pulled the trigger when I did because this amp is now $150.00 more than what I spent. I had a hard time deciding between the 50W and the 20W versions. I went with the 50W to have more clean head room, but would have been just as happy with the 20W head. And who plans to play a Marshall clean anyway? 😀 Most who purchase a Marshall are planning to crank for crunch, although you can get some nice clean tones and all that jazz :-D. The only downside with the 50W version is that you will have to bias the amp if you ever replace/swap the tubes. The 50W is not cathode/self-biasing like the 20W head, so plan on $30-$60 to bias your amp with a tube swap unless you have the equipment and know-how to bias yourself. This amp is extremely loud, even with the mid-power setting! Oh my heck is it loud! I'm running this head through an EVH EL34 2×12 with Celestion G12H 30W Anniversary speakers. Holy wow, awesome, and loud! 😀 To save your ears and keep your family and neighbors happy, I'd advise using an attenuator or power soak. With the Marshall Origin, to get those nice, crunchy, classic Marshall tones, you really have to crank the master volume to around 6-8 to saturate the power tubes and then also dial in your preamp gain to around 6-10. We're talking loud, loud, loud without an attenuator! For a very affordable power soak option, go with the Bugera PS1 (under $100.00), which will allow you to crank (even dime) this Marshall to get all those classic Marshall tones without blowing your brains out. Note–this is not a high gain Marshall amp. It's a classic rock Marshall, but it takes pedals extremely well for those wishing for more high-gain territory.AJ

This is an amazing amp! Not only is it affordable, but it's so versatile! I like to dial in an edge of breakup tone so that by rolling back the volume pot on my Guitar I have pristine cleans, roll it up for that classic "crunchy," biting clean. This amp also LOVES pedals, so when I want more gain I can step on the blue channel of my Friedman BE-OD Deluxe. Even More gain = the second channel on the BE-OD Deluxe with the mids ever so slightly cut back (now we're getting into the hard rock/metal territory). And if that's not quite heavy enough to serve a particular sound, well the internal foot-switchable boost adds a nice extra oomph. The EHX Metal M*ff is great for those extreme levels of gain (contrary to other reviews, this amp is perfectly capable of doing Metal if you utilize your favorite dirt pedals). And the effects loop is wonderful! Reverbs, Delays, Modulations…they sound great through the loop! Even on the lowest power setting, this amp is very LOUD, because that highly sought after power amp distortion that makes a Plexi so desirable demands to be heard!! Is this a Plexi? Of course not, but that magical characteristic of genuine Marshall tone is quite convincing in the Origin! IMHO, for the price, this is as close as you will ever get, and it is fantastic! If you want a good, reliable, LOUD amp with the versatility to cover all your needs, and don't want to spend 5x's as much, well this IS what you have been wishing you could find!Shasal

I have owned several amps in the last 40yrs. Always looking for "that tone" and never quite found it. Peavey's a Marshall and a Carvin. The last being a 100W head. And with all of them and a line 6 floor pod, was never happy. I am so happy with this head on my 4×12 marshall cab that all I have used the floor pod for is the tuner. I'm sure at some point I will probably use the pod for some effects, but for what I mostly play its not really needed. Of course there are many things that can effect this so ill just give a short list of the main guitars I use and the pickups. Gibson Les Paul with Slash Seymour Duncan's, wired 50's and a Gibson 137 all stock. I no longer play out so the 100w Carvin was just not good in my basement. Couldn't push it to the point of natural breakup in a confined space. This amp goes from almost crystal clean to a beautiful natural saturation. And the dirty channel picks up where the clean leaves off and goes to the verge of metal. Throw a overdrive pedal in the mix and there isn't much you couldn't play on the fly.Brad B

I have had it for a week and love it. It goes from super clean to full on metal overdrive. Price was good—delivered quick. Seems well built enough. The only thing I would change is to give the clean / classic channel some crunch so i could go from a light crunch to a heavy lead sound when switching channels because the clean channel is clean even when fully cranked. The DSL100 has a crunch option on the clean channel so it would be nice to have it here as well. But you can use the ultra gain channel and use the guitar volume to clean it up etc. I assume the clean channel would take pedals well from other reviews I have seen. Overall it rocks and gets really loud. Gig-able I think. Highly recommended.Tuckerman

I bought 2 of these heads to drive Marshall MX12 cabinets. I was previously using 2 Marshall DSL40CR combo amps. I thought I could save space by having the small heads instead. I was wrong. FYI, the DSL40CR amps sound great (mine are upgraded with Creamback speakers). First off, the amps both had horrific white noise when you turned up the reverb. 2) one amp made some weird static noise when you moved your hand around the face plate, touching the face plate actually changed the tone. I have never in my almost 30 years of using guitar amps had this. 3) The amps sounded thin and tinny. To the point they were unusable. I returned them for a refund and when both amps arrived at Musicians Friend, they stated that they only received one amp (although both amps arrived the same day). A day later the 2ne amp was marked as received. I received one amps refund on Saturday, and now I guess I have to wait till Monday for the second refund. What a joke. BTY, I also ordered a brand new EHX pedal when I bought the amps and they sent me a used one instead! Musicians Friend is such a joke now a days it's sad.MLM

Overall: This amplifier absolutely rocks! With so many options you can dial in any sound that you want, from crystal clear clean to roaring rhythms and screaming leads. As everyone has already said, the reverb is almost nonexistent. However, the amp, tubes and build are rock solid. BUT… if you really want to blow your mind, swap out the speaker with one that fits your style. My style is classic hard rock so after much research I swapped out the 70 watt Celestion V-Type speaker that it comes with for a 150 watt Eminence Swamp Thang and I swear that it sounds as loud and ballsy as my full-on DSL100 full stack with 1960 cabs. The difference is mind boggling. No fizz, no speaker distortion at all. Just a loud, clear representation of my sound. Obviously the Swamp Thang might not be your speaker of choice but do your research and this will be the only amp you will ever need again!Scott

Sound: With good tubes properly biased, yes. Features: One feature that I absolutely detest is the effects loop button. When it is activated the front of the amp ceases to operate and when deactivated, the front works but the effects loop deactivated. There's no reason for this feature to exist. Substantially limits what the user is able to do. Bad decision in the design. Ease of Use: Just need to fix the owners manual to include specifically how to bias the tubes. Value: At the time I bought it, it was around $800. So at that time, yes. Overall: It took me a while for this amp to grow on me as it sounded like crap out of the box. I replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion V30 and replaced the stock tubes with Ruby EL34STR and a 5751 in the PI as is my typical configuration. Still couldn't get an acceptable tone was fuzzy and grindy. Years later, I learned that you can self bias the amp. After reading forums, there is little info on how to bias the amp and nothing in the manual. I discovered the bias was at 31mv so I turned both to 40mv and HOLY SMOKES this was the tone I've been seeking all these years. Eureka, I found it and it's incredible now. Completely unacceptable that Marshall included zero information in the manual regarding this, which is a pretty important feature. Moreover, it's important that I explain how to bias this. When you place the multimeter leads in the ground and point, one point will give a reading and the other red test point will read zero, always. YOU WILL NOT BE USING THIS TEST POUNT AT ALL. Go back to the one that gives the reading and keep it in that test point and adjust the pot to 40mv. Then, keeping the multimeter lead in the same pot, turn the other bias adjust til they both read 40mv. Next onto the effects loop, there is a button to turn the effects loop on and off as you can not use both simultaneously like in other amps. What good is this feature? Worthless and is an absolute thorn in my side as I would like to use the midi to switch between both which is why I bought it, but can't. Now, the amp does sound good now that it's properly biased as well as replacing the stock speaker, but I lost years of good tone due to the lack of instruction in the instruction manual.Jonathan

Overall: This thing is awesome if you like that Marshall tone this amp is for you, it's really a 4 channel amp if you get the six way Marshall foot switch, if I had to nit pick this amp would be the reverb, don't get me wrong it sounds great and is useable for 90% of what you would need it for, but if your wanting that Gilmour type reverb you'll need to add a reverb pedal in the chain. Where this amp really shines and I discovered this on accident I was messing around with the effects loops and added an EP booster which I would normally run on the front in, and just WOW…adding the EP booster to the loop really opened it up, tamed some of the compression and evened out the gain while improving the tone, sounds more like a JCM800 at this point, I'm super impressed with this little amp and I have some really nice amps in my collection. Let me say I would totally gig with this amp without question. This fact that Marshall made it easy to change and bias tubes is a huge thumbs up as well. Other manufactures please take noteRick

If you're expecting an amazing Marshall sound, you might want to invest in some of the bigger amps Marshall has to offer. If you think you can get a concert level sound out of this little guy, you will not be the happiest person. However, that level of "high" expectation would not be very reasonable or even realistic for such a little amp. This is a very cute, small amp that will help you plug your guitar so you can practice quietly in any room in your house without annoying your wife. It will distort if you crank the volume all the way out, and if you're used to the full sound of a bigger Marshall (like I do) it might make you feel like you're hearing your guitar over an old telephone (just my opinion). However, if you calibrate your instrument volume & tone you can find a happy medium. With that said, for the price it is a very nice solution to practice and if the sound seems too weak for you, you have the choice of putting headphones. I personally use it just for practice on the fly, it serves it purpose, but then again I was not expecting the best sound output. So I am happy with the purchase.BeeZee

It's basically a toy amp. I can see it being used as a portable amp for non-serious performance. Personally, I like it for a quick jam and for (relatively) quiet practice in my apartment setting. Won't disturb my neighbors but it does get noticeable at the highest volume. That and the overdrive knob are the two main controls. By default it just does a clean sound but overdrive lets you toggle in some gain for that distortion. It has a good look that definitely models after its bigger brothers.Rick

I don't know what some of you guys expect from this thing, but be realistic: it's an inexpensive 5 inch tall, 1 watt amp. It's not designed for anything but sitting in a chair and entertaining yourself or a couple of people. Within that context, I enjoy this thing and sometimes get it off the shelf and play around with it for awhile. Also, when I owed somebody a 1 minute long riff for his podcast and my main amp was getting some regular tech service, I plugged my American Standard Strat into this thing, mic'd the amp, used the OD channel with the volume and tone both on 10, played the part, then added tons of bass, reverb, and chorus to it in post, and it sounded great and nobody ever knew that I recorded the part using a 5 inch tall amp. It is what it is as long as you don't expect the world.Steve

Extremely versatile amp. I play a lot of electric blues but I grew up on hard rock/metal. Today I also play a little bluegrass, country, classical, pop and whatever suits my mood at the time. But at the end of the day, I usually revert to a heavier sound. Now the Marshall has a nice clean sound, although not as clean as my old Fender Pro Reverb. You can't have everything. Where this amp really shines is in its ability to generate anything from mild overdrive to extreme high gain. With this amp I can get high gain harmonics that I could not get from other amps, even with heavy gain effects. The only negative really is that the amp is quite physically heavy.Fuzzy

Firstly, I am in a bar/party cover band of older (>30 years to nearly 60) musicians with day jobs. We are not all Recent Hits, but do mostly songs people have heard of in all years from mid 60s to this year. The flexibility of this head is its big feature for someone like me. This is not a prescriptive review — this is just how I use it. Some of the skeptics have wondered why you would need 4 channels with 3 tones each. They have a good point, but not one that applies to a cover band. If I had to have one amplifier, it would have to produce the tones that this amp can do on channel 2 (crunch) green and orange, and channel 3 (OD1) green and orange. Crunch orange and OD1 green are quite similar and are the tones of the classic plexis and old Marshalls. Crunch green is what you would want for "clean" tone with a Marshall level of compression and just a little breakup for an electric guitar. OD1 at orange is what you would do for distorted classic rock — adding an overdrive in front of a plexi or a very saturated pickup, for example. For every song I really like, and everything I would do if I wasn't doing covers, those two channels at those two colors would cover it. For gigs, I can set channel 1 (clean) and Channel 4 (OD2) to be more extreme. The clean channel is actually what i use to be my acoustic guitar and occasionally as my hollow body electric emulating an acoustic. It is not perfect, nor is as good as having a specialized acoustic amp or clean tone jazz amp. However, it is good enough, and it simplifies the signal path to not have separate amps, and there is enough separate EQ to make it work. Channel 4 can be used for dirtier, more distorted stuff, and the weird thing is that now I use it entirely for country. My band doesn't do any metal, and the heaviest guitar sounds we do are the likes of Carrie Underwood. Getting the hiss to go away is not that big of a deal — put an MXR Smart Gate or any other gate I've tried into the _serial_loop_ and twist the knobs — it will take care of the problem. The JS head might be better and I haven't tried it. I do appreciate that you can't use the OD channels on this without a noise gate, but it isn't a big dial to fix. The reverb is good but nothing special. Reading this review before submitting, I realize that the oddest thing is that I personally have no use for any of the red versions of the four channels. That is probably a classic rock attitude — this thing has a lot more metal tone than I will ever use, so you should use other reviews if you want that.Iceandsnow

This is just and amazing head… I can't complement it enough. I wanted so many of the iconic Marshall tones but couldn't afford to go out and buy a JCM 800, 900, Plexi…etc. This head truly does a great job of getting all the tones your looking for. It does take a little dialing in with all the different modes in each channel to find what they all do… but once you have it kind of figured out its a tone machine. the included foot switch is a pleasant surprise also. It's programmable and works like a charm with just a normal guitar cable. I have also used the midi switching capabilities and they are also wonderful, though not as easy to use as the foot switch. If you are a gigging musician or just want a lot of options…..get one of these!Tony

Upon purchasing and fiddling around with the settings I was not completely sold on this amp. I had trouble finding a sound that I liked. However I now am finding cool sounds and fully enjoying the amp. In my experience, it starts to sound way worse when turned up on high volumes. Overall great practice amp and it keeps up when I jam with friends.Guitarist

I bought the MG30gfx to use as a practice amp. I don't know what method Marshall used to rate the amp at 30 watts, but it is nowhere near that number — at least not by the RMS method, which is really the only true measurement of an amp's output power that I'm aware of. Some companies use the term "nominal power," some use "peak power" or "maximum power." There may be other ratings as well. In any case, out of curiosity I decided to see how this amp compared to my Fender Deluxe Reverb, which is rated at 22 watts RMS. That's how I discovered it's nowhere near 30 watts. The Fender volume set at "2," is considerably louder than the MG30 volume at approximately two-thirds full. I was shocked! I didn't really expect it to sound as loud (or as good) as the Fender, but the volume difference was unbelievable. The difference in speaker size (10" vs. 12" in the Fender) could not account for that much difference in volume. Nowhere in the manual that comes with the MG30gfx does it state how the wattage was calculated. The other big disappointment is the white noise emitted by the MG30gfx in the clean channel. I bought a solid state amp just for practice expecting that it would be quiet, but the white noise emitted by the MG30gfx is actually louder than the white noise emitted by my Fender Deluxe Reverb. These are the reasons I gave the MG30gfx a two-star rating. Otherwise, it will do as a home practice amp. Overall, though, it is a big disappointment.Robert

This amp is so good. The clean channel has a lovely full tone and the overdrive settings are fantastic. In addition the tone controls actually give a good range sounds which is not something common to all amps on this price range. The 5 effects cover all the most common sounds . I have paid 4 times as much for less versatile amps. Just great valueGavin E.

I'm a big Marshall amp user. Played through half stacks forever. I've sampled and bought a few Marshall Amp modelers and modeling amps for practice over the years, but never thought that they captured the Marshall sound very well. When I heard that Marshall themselves were finally going to put out a modeling amp, I was intrigued. It was love at first sound when I tried one out. I bought one at GC and took it home. Dialed in the perfect sound for me and my practicing sessions suddenly leveled up in pleasure and accuracy to my stage setup. Also there's a cool USB interface that sends the sound digitally to your laptop and sends whatever sound your recording software outputs back to the amp, also digitally. Very addictive. I have and have had lots of different models of Marshall amps for practicing, but this one is by far the best. Does a good job of capturing the Marshall tube sound. You probably wouldn't take the 25 watt version to the stage and the speaker is only 10 inches so it bottoms out when you crank this little thing. The sound coming back from the laptop isn't the greatest through the single 10 inch with no tweeter, but it's fine for practicing IMHO. The mobile app for fine tuning the sound is cool. I played with it for awhile, but there's not much that you can't do by just twiddling with the knobs on the amp itself. The effects are really good and it's fun to dial in different amps, both preamp and power tube sections. Highly recommended.Marshall amp lover

I don't always feel up to setting up my pedalboard and Vox AC15C1 for bedroom practice, so it's really nice to have something like this around that I can just plug into and play whenever I feel like it. It has plenty of cool sounding tones, and can be controlled from your phone, tablet, or computer through Bluetooth. It also allows playback through Bluetooth or through an AUX cable if you want to play along to songs or backing tracks or just listen to music. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a live setting or recording (which it wasn't really made for to begin with), but for a beginner or the average bedroom guitarist, or for practice, it's all you should really need. Definitley comes in handy. A lot of reviewers are honestly pretty harsh on it, and hold it to some of the standards of the average tube amp, such as a Vox AC, a Fender Deluxe Reverb, or a Peavey Classic 30. Standards it was never meant to live up to. If you're looking for a practice amp, or if you're the average bedroom guitarist who only plays occasionally, or a beginner, I would recommend checking it out. You might just like itBrandon Johnson

I got this amp to practice. I liked at the features it had (amp models, effects, headphone, blutooth, etc). It can seem a bit overwhelming at first but once you delve in to the amp, it makes sense. It is easy to change the presets. You can change all sorts of parameters per effect. Which is why I say it can be a bit overwhelming but that helps you create the sound you want. I liked the sounds of the amp models with the exception of the '50s British. Good clean and Overdrve tones overall. I used the blutooth for audio and had no problem connecting or reconnecting (Samsung Galaxy 10E). I downloading the Gateway APP just so I could review it and not really thinking of using it. It connected and reconnected with out issues for me. Once I used it, though, I saw how useful it is. It tells you exaxctly what amp model you are using and what the setting are. Same for effects. You can check those things on the amp control panel but you have to check one at a time. You can change preset, amp, effects, cabinet/speaker, tube model with the app. I am really happy with my purchase and knowing that I will not have to buy pedals for this amp.SValdez

Extremely versatile amp. I play a lot of electric blues but I grew up on hard rock/metal. Today I also play a little bluegrass, country, classical, pop and whatever suits my mood at the time. But at the end of the day, I usually revert to a heavier sound. Now the Marshall has a nice clean sound, although not as clean as my old Fender Pro Reverb. You can't have everything. Where this amp really shines is in its ability to generate anything from mild overdrive to extreme high gain. With this amp I can get high gain harmonics that I could not get from other amps, even with heavy gain effects. The only negative really is that the amp is quite physically heavy.Fuzzy

Firstly, I am in a bar/party cover band of older (>30 years to nearly 60) musicians with day jobs. We are not all Recent Hits, but do mostly songs people have heard of in all years from mid 60s to this year. The flexibility of this head is its big feature for someone like me. This is not a prescriptive review — this is just how I use it. Some of the skeptics have wondered why you would need 4 channels with 3 tones each. They have a good point, but not one that applies to a cover band. If I had to have one amplifier, it would have to produce the tones that this amp can do on channel 2 (crunch) green and orange, and channel 3 (OD1) green and orange. Crunch orange and OD1 green are quite similar and are the tones of the classic plexis and old Marshalls. Crunch green is what you would want for "clean" tone with a Marshall level of compression and just a little breakup for an electric guitar. OD1 at orange is what you would do for distorted classic rock — adding an overdrive in front of a plexi or a very saturated pickup, for example. For every song I really like, and everything I would do if I wasn't doing covers, those two channels at those two colors would cover it. For gigs, I can set channel 1 (clean) and Channel 4 (OD2) to be more extreme. The clean channel is actually what i use to be my acoustic guitar and occasionally as my hollow body electric emulating an acoustic. It is not perfect, nor is as good as having a specialized acoustic amp or clean tone jazz amp. However, it is good enough, and it simplifies the signal path to not have separate amps, and there is enough separate EQ to make it work. Channel 4 can be used for dirtier, more distorted stuff, and the weird thing is that now I use it entirely for country. My band doesn't do any metal, and the heaviest guitar sounds we do are the likes of Carrie Underwood. Getting the hiss to go away is not that big of a deal — put an MXR Smart Gate or any other gate I've tried into the _serial_loop_ and twist the knobs — it will take care of the problem. The JS head might be better and I haven't tried it. I do appreciate that you can't use the OD channels on this without a noise gate, but it isn't a big dial to fix. The reverb is good but nothing special. Reading this review before submitting, I realize that the oddest thing is that I personally have no use for any of the red versions of the four channels. That is probably a classic rock attitude — this thing has a lot more metal tone than I will ever use, so you should use other reviews if you want that.Iceandsnow

This is just and amazing head… I can't complement it enough. I wanted so many of the iconic Marshall tones but couldn't afford to go out and buy a JCM 800, 900, Plexi…etc. This head truly does a great job of getting all the tones your looking for. It does take a little dialing in with all the different modes in each channel to find what they all do… but once you have it kind of figured out its a tone machine. the included foot switch is a pleasant surprise also. It's programmable and works like a charm with just a normal guitar cable. I have also used the midi switching capabilities and they are also wonderful, though not as easy to use as the foot switch. If you are a gigging musician or just want a lot of options…..get one of these!Tony

I gotta tell you…this little amp has very much impressed me in ONE way; it is very clean. This is my first experience with the Acoustic brand, and I am pleased, and have become a fan. I got mine as a display model at Guitar Center to play solely with my acoustic/electric Fender T-Bucket 300CE—and it sounds absolutely phenomenal (but only through the clean channel). This is an electric guitar practice amp; but I didn't realize that when I bought it, because of the brand name (yah…35 years of playing and I'm still that stupid, LOL)—I thought it would be a good 20 watt "acoustic/electric" amp, and my misunderstanding turned out to be a blessing. Obviously the 'drive' channel is gonna sound horrible with an acoustic/electric…I hated it, and never tried it a second time. The clean channel is fantastic though. Just out of curiosity (since it IS an electric guitar amp), I plugged in one of my Fender Stratocaster's, and THAT blew me away on the clean channel, yet still disappointed me on the drive side…so it's my conclusion that the drive channel sucks on this amp regardless of guitar type. With either acoustic/electric or just electric guitar on the clean channel, there is no hum, no pop, no squeal, no noise what-so-ever whether the guitar is being played or sitting with full volume. It is dead quiet until you hit them strings, and then it sings like an Angel. If you want distortion (at any volume), there are better amps in this price range. If clean is your thing, and 20 watts is plenty for you (it can be mic'd if needed)….then I don't think you can do better than this amp. It's amazing. On a side note, I am so impressed with this Acoustic brand amp using an acoustic/electric, that I just ordered an Acoustic A1000 today as a Christmas gift to myself…and I plan to buy another one of these G20's to have TWO as powered monitors (because the A1000 is capable of running two output's). I was solely a Fender guy (guitars and amps), but Acoustic made me re-think.White Dog

I use this amp as a practice amp. Ended up miking it up for recording. Sounds fat. Sits well in a dense mix. I've even used it for gigs. For when guests want to sit in. Just throw a mike on it. And have the f.o.h. take it from there. Simple to dial in usable tones.Kev

Upon purchasing and fiddling around with the settings I was not completely sold on this amp. I had trouble finding a sound that I liked. However I now am finding cool sounds and fully enjoying the amp. In my experience, it starts to sound way worse when turned up on high volumes. Overall great practice amp and it keeps up when I jam with friends.Guitarist

This amp is so good. The clean channel has a lovely full tone and the overdrive settings are fantastic. In addition the tone controls actually give a good range sounds which is not something common to all amps on this price range. The 5 effects cover all the most common sounds . I have paid 4 times as much for less versatile amps. Just great valueGavin E.

The amp is built from a good quality plastic. It's pretty cheap, it's Marshall and it looks like a reduced copy of a real Marshall stack. The clean sound is not bad but I couldn't manage it to make a good distorted sound like I've heard on YouTube videos. Compared to other similar compact amps, the sound is not really great.yurersho_4

OK I will write something none did about use of this "amp", at least I didnt notice so sorry if someone wrote that : I checked on some gear forum question from a guitarist–he tried to connect this MS-4 to his amp as preamp boost, he said he got no sound, sohe got advice to mod thing(you have to open back of amp and solder certain jumper to get direct out–but headphone is not usable after that !)And one guy told that he got sound through headphone to another amp but it was nogood sounding ! So…both was wrong, first of all I quite intensely play and practice guitar every day, now some about sound…So :1. You have to put jackin just a half cause headphone out is stereo, 2.I have plugged thing to my Bugera 5V–5watts tube amp-which have excellent sound just lacking little push…so this MS-4 have provided that push, it serves excellent as a preamp boost and gives to your amp (specially good if you have dark sounding tube amp) Marshall caracter, so amp turns into Marshall and rally sound as you are playing tube Marshall amp–no kidding here, crystal clear strong punchy cleans and also with this you can overdriven tubes really nicely, great also to give you lead channel! So you dont need boost predal if you use this for an amp ! And you dont have to mod this amp, just use this headphone thing ! You can use micro cube roland in same way–rec/hedph out to another amp ! Then you dont need effect pedals and sound greeeeat ! The same with this MS-4–your amp becomes Marshall !! Is that good enough ?Kailash soundz

Overall: This amp is the "cats meow" it rocks. It plays clean or dirty. I modded my SG and the out put of the guitar is so hot the only pedals I use in front of the amp is my korg tuner and my 5 band eq pedal. I run an old DOD analog delay ( I know its a dinosaur lol) through the effects loop. All I can say is be ready to fall in love all over again I plan on buying a second one just because I love what this amp does. 60s or 70s rock players this is the amp you need. I took one of my old amps and sold it today. Thats how much I love this amp. I just cant say enough about it.Ricky

When I saw this amp on EBay I had to have it. I played Southern Rock and Blues for a good 15 years in my band Steelhorse from Reading Pa, also with Shotgun Blue and Chucky (the guys named the band after me). I had to have it because it looked exactly like the 1972 super lead that I sold on eBay a few years back.what caught my attention was the 3 switch set up consisting of on, standby and to me the most important one, Polarity. People may smear at that and say use a grounded plug but! That doesn't always work. Sometimes you get lit up and u have to use s cheater plug. This is also one of the reasons I love the old Fender alps. I was skeptical at first since it was a re issue but then I thought, it was the first line of repro's of the exact amp that shared stage with me for a good 17 years and that Marshall would probably had put a lot into making it sound the the Hand wired original. Turns out they did. To my ears, i could barely tell the difference. My amp was growly and yet creamy on the leads. This sounds the same and unlike the new Marshalls, it doesn't sound sterile or brittle. I took the bright cap off of mine and I'll do the same to this amp (yes, the bright channel) since for me, it's way to bright even with my Les Paul. It also sounds great with my American deluxe Telecaster with the tone rolled back a hair. These take pedals extremely well and have a clean sound to kill for. I only sold mine due to unemployment at the time, I did have other back up amps. These are great main amplifies, if you have a chance to get one, do it!! It's well worth the money and besides that, it just looks way too cool on stage!! Hope this helps any amp buying decisions!!chuckysstuff

I've owned several Marshall combos over the years, and they've never let me down, until I bought this piece of garbage. I couldn't get a decent tone out of it!! Very low and bassy, and barely present at all. Definitely wouldn't be able to punch through a mix, and playing live would've been a nightmare.CoopDBomb

Overall: Bought this at a great deal.I had it for 30 days and sent it back for a refund.I could not for the life of me dial in a sound with my Fender Blacktop Strat with humbuckers.Marshall should be ashamed of themselves for putting their name on this horrible POS.Went and bought a used Peavey Vypyr 30 for $135.00 and had great sounds in less then 24 hours.Blows this marshall away.Very underrated Peavey Vypyr amps . Great tube sounding amps and also feel.Frank

The Marshall name alone speaks for itself. There is no brand that creates a better sound than Marshall. It's not just my opinion, it has been the most used amp by some of the most famous musicians that has ever played an instrument. This amp in particular is absolutely perfect for use in the home use or in front of a small crowd. Perfect sound and perfect size.Michael

I've owned this amp for a few years. With the clean channel engaged, it sounds great with pedals (mxr super comp into boss od) and gets surprisingly loud for a small apartment. I dont think it would be loud enough for most band practice settings as far as volume. The biggest gripe I have with it is that it defaults to the distortion channel, which is useless for any application. Muddy, buzzy, no low end, no smoothness… just rigid cold distortion that muddied your notes even with the gain at the lowest settings. It's in fact the worst distortion I've ever used. Whenever I turn it on, I immediately switch the channel to clean.Alan

Bought this for practice when lower volume is required. Looks great, Sounds great. From the research that i've done, this is the best sounding solid state amp of is size and class and i feel like the research really holds up!Tony

This amp is perfect for the practice I have. The clean has amazing clarity and the overdrive has enough grit to fool around. I can experiment with any pedal as well. Sounds great. Great purchase.EDGAR

I really wanted to like this amp. I've ownned almost every amp made over the past 40 years playing, and currently own 2 other marshall 100 watt heads. I bought the origin 50 head. This thing is UNGODLY loud, easily louder than my 2 other 100 watt heads. I really thought it was defective even in 20 watt mode it easily keeps up with the loudest drummer in 50 watt mode the loudest thing I have ever played through a 4×12, 2 4×12 cabs, and a 112 cab. I spent almost a month tweaking this amp and just could not get that crunchy/clean plexi tone I was wishing for. My head had zero sag when hitting notes, the tone is really immediate and dare I say sterile sounding through a variety of high end speakers. You MUST use a pedal with vintage output single coils, or else you just sound squeeky clean with no edge. So whats the point? I have many amps I can stick a tube screamer in front of. I just cant justify buying the latest and greatest tube amp, only to have a 100 dollar dirt box be the core ofHobbyBobby

A mini version of my full sized Bluesbreaker. I really needed something a bit quieter for smaller gigs and practice at home. I didn’t want to compromise by buying a different type of small amp that wouldn’t get the sounds I had become used to, that’s where the Origin 50c comes in. It’s a great stand in for my JTM45 and it has power scaling to tone it down for smaller gigs. It does clean, it has natural grit if you push it, the tilt and gain boost controls are amazing additions. No need for jumping channels, just blend in the “High Treble” part of a JTM45 with the tilt knob and you can add some clarity and sizzle to stand out in the mix.Daniel Warfel

I bought it to go back to a old school setup. I've had it with all this new age software and modeling, and programming! That's not for me! I have two different pedal boards that I custom made that have every effect I could possibly need at a gig. This amp has an effects loop for those who prefer it….I just plug everything right into the front like I did in the eighties, and it works great! This amp is made for pedals….. unless you just like a dry clean sound. I also have a 412 cab to plug it in too! It gets even better with that! So.. I got the combo for smaller gigs, and for the bigger venues I add the 412 cab. Works out great! I plan on adding some corner protectors and wheels soon.Glenn

I’ve been using the same solid state mg30cfx since I started playing. I purchased this along with the Marshall 1×12 speaker cabinet. This amp makes playing so much more enjoyable and I’ve finally found the tones I’ve been missing over the years. It’s great for in the house at the .1 watt setting. At full 1 watt it definitely makes my neighbors hate me. The foot switch and effects loop is definitely a plus for me. I’d recommend it to anybodyTim

I bought this amp as a practice amp to keep in a house that I'm remodeling. I'm running through an old early 2000's marshall MG 4 x 12 cab that I had laying around. I love the high gain channel…its got that great marshall dirt from the 80's type sound. The normal channels can get you that ZZ Top type of blues overdrive if that's what your after. I'm not crazy about the clean sounds, but nobody really buys a marshall for cleans anyways. The digital reverb is pretty decent as well. It's really nice to have the effects loop as well. Overall, a great little amp!Kevin

Overall: First off, this amp head is LOUD for 1W, even at the attenuated volume you will piss off the neighbors if you live in an apartment or condo. A 2 channel tube amp w built in fx loop and reverb from Marshall at this price is hard to beat. I mainly use the clean channel and run pedals through that as the dirty channel wasn't quite what I wanted, but it's a nice option to have. If you are a big reverb player than the built in reverb won't be of any use, but if you just use it sparingly like I do it gets the job done. You could easily gig with this head and a single 12" in most venues without issue, especially since most of the time your amp is mic'd once you get into larger venues.Chris

I bought this amp as a practice amp to keep in a house that I'm remodeling. I'm running through an old early 2000's marshall MG 4 x 12 cab that I had laying around. I love the high gain channel…its got that great marshall dirt from the 80's type sound. The normal channels can get you that ZZ Top type of blues overdrive if that's what your after. I'm not crazy about the clean sounds, but nobody really buys a marshall for cleans anyways. The digital reverb is pretty decent as well. It's really nice to have the effects loop as well. Overall, a great little amp!Kevin

This little amp head rocks. I mean it really rocks. Now, I am using this after using the DSL40CR for years. Yes, sounds crazy I know. But, I am trying to downsize and this is perfect for room playing. I also love the size of this. It is small, light and very effective. I also feel that the reverb on this is way better than the DSL40CR. The other thing I really love about this amp that makes it unique is it has a dedicated clean channel which the other Marshalls do not have. The gain channel also sounds like a Marshall. So here is the story. I am trying to downsize my house by getting rid of duplicate things. I have two amps. I sold the Marshall DSL40CR. I missed the Marshall sound so much I bought this little 1 watt head. Best decision I made. Do not think about it just BUY this amp now if you want a rich tube amp sound without breaking the bank. You deserve this.CS Guitar Guy