Marshall Mg30Cfx Mg Series 30 Watt Guitar Combo Amp For Sale (Jan 2023 Update)

I have a 2003 MG15DFX and wanted the newer version with 30 watts. The max loudness on this 30 watt model is the same or lower than my old 15 watter, and I tried two of these new in box. The four channels are nice; you can use either manual or program modes. I don't like that the Tap + Store buttons say "Tuner" yet there is no tuner unless you buy the $75 optional foot pedal. Moreover, the tuner is on the foot pedal but you can't switch it on/off from the pedal itself; you have to reach over to the amp and then press and hold the two buttons on the amp. The reverb no longer has Hall like the older model; it just gives you Plate and Spring. The overall tone is shrill and hurts my ears after about 15 minutes in the same way that modeling amps do. In fact, I suspect that this IS a modeling amp, just not advertised as one. In fairness, it has a fat, punchy low-end and lots of gain. The gain reacts very well to how hard you pick, which is perhaps the nicest feature. New players who like Marshalls will dig this, but I seriously think something like Line 6's Spider 75 blows this thing away for value and versatility. Of the two I bought and tried, the first had a wrinkle in the tolex covering, the second had white paint on one of the knobs right out of the factory-sealed box and the cabinet buzzes when I hit certain notes. Both have the same low output compared to my old 15DFX. YouTube videos make the MGCFX sound like a dream, but after getting it home I'm uncharmed.Slappy

I play guitar as a hobby and have a Peavey amp that just couldn't get the sound I wanted even with effect pedals. If you want a good 80's-90's heavy metal sound, then this is the amp. With the foot controller you can store the different stored sound you want, hit the button and you have it. I play at the house so the 30 watt is more than enough volume. I don't need whopping volume so this amp is perfect for me. However the maximum volume should be around 7 or 8. Any volume higher than that has a little roughness to it. This is a GREAT little amp and it doesn't bust your bank account. I've had the amp 5+ months and play it for about two hours a day and have had NO PROBLEMS with it whatsoever. For the money, you get the awesome Marshall sound and quality. I use no effect pedals with this amp and have no problem getting the sounds I want. I don't know why other people claim they can't get the proper sound, maybe they don't know how to adjust the amp to their liking or maybe they're trying to use effect pedals with it. I had to play with it a bit and figure it out but once I did I was in love with it. I recommend it to anyone whom wants an awesome amp that doesn't put you in debt. I highly recommend getting the foot switch too.Rutbuster1

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.

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'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 have a Marshall 412 cabinet with a 100 watt Marshall head. I needed a smaller amp to practice at home and for small jam sessions. I picked the Marshall MG15FX because I know and like the Marshall sound and quality. The Effects features sound good too. I bought the footswitch for it too. This amp sounds good and powerful enough for any small jam or studio work. Marshall makes a MG30 if you need more power.Max

I really like this amp. I don't have to turn up the master volume very much for it to get loud enough. I plan to hook up a Line 6 Pocket Pod for heavier distortion and more effects options. I'm a big fan of delay and am happy with the delay that comes with this amp but I did get a Boss DD-8 digital delay pedal and it works well with this amp. I previously had a cheap 100 watt amp but it only sounded well at low volume. I feel this Marshall amp is better quality and I am glad I got this one.Ferdad

i use this fun little amp at home to practice and jam. sometimes with friends. i've have owned fender and peavy practice amps and this Marshall is just as good or better. i like the clean and various overdrives..the effects do a good enough job and really like the two different reverb effects. i like the headphone option for keeping the neighbors and girlfriend happy when playing late night. i play a Epiphone Les paul traditional pro iv and the combonation sounds super for hard rock and blues but i needed to get a heavy metal pedal for metallica songs. wish it had a longer plug in cable. but over all it sounds really good for what i payed.. ;owned it for two years and keeps on rocking.rob

The big plus with this MG30 is it doesn't have the static noise on the overdrive channel like my MG15. The reverb and foot switch are nice features too. Solid construction on these Marshall MG line. Good value on a 30 watt amp.keanul808-us

I have a 2003 MG15DFX and wanted the newer version with 30 watts. The max loudness on this 30 watt model is the same or lower than my old 15 watter, and I tried two of these new in box. The four channels are nice; you can use either manual or program modes. I don't like that the Tap + Store buttons say "Tuner" yet there is no tuner unless you buy the $75 optional foot pedal. Moreover, the tuner is on the foot pedal but you can't switch it on/off from the pedal itself; you have to reach over to the amp and then press and hold the two buttons on the amp. The reverb no longer has Hall like the older model; it just gives you Plate and Spring. The overall tone is shrill and hurts my ears after about 15 minutes in the same way that modeling amps do. In fact, I suspect that this IS a modeling amp, just not advertised as one. In fairness, it has a fat, punchy low-end and lots of gain. The gain reacts very well to how hard you pick, which is perhaps the nicest feature. New players who like Marshalls will dig this, but I seriously think something like Line 6's Spider 75 blows this thing away for value and versatility. Of the two I bought and tried, the first had a wrinkle in the tolex covering, the second had white paint on one of the knobs right out of the factory-sealed box and the cabinet buzzes when I hit certain notes. Both have the same low output compared to my old 15DFX. YouTube videos make the MGCFX sound like a dream, but after getting it home I'm uncharmed.Slappy

I play guitar as a hobby and have a Peavey amp that just couldn't get the sound I wanted even with effect pedals. If you want a good 80's-90's heavy metal sound, then this is the amp. With the foot controller you can store the different stored sound you want, hit the button and you have it. I play at the house so the 30 watt is more than enough volume. I don't need whopping volume so this amp is perfect for me. However the maximum volume should be around 7 or 8. Any volume higher than that has a little roughness to it. This is a GREAT little amp and it doesn't bust your bank account. I've had the amp 5+ months and play it for about two hours a day and have had NO PROBLEMS with it whatsoever. For the money, you get the awesome Marshall sound and quality. I use no effect pedals with this amp and have no problem getting the sounds I want. I don't know why other people claim they can't get the proper sound, maybe they don't know how to adjust the amp to their liking or maybe they're trying to use effect pedals with it. I had to play with it a bit and figure it out but once I did I was in love with it. I recommend it to anyone whom wants an awesome amp that doesn't put you in debt. I highly recommend getting the foot switch too.Rutbuster1

This is a really good bit of kit (apart from the way it looks, which isn't the best!). It makes a great Bluetooth speaker for streaming music – plenty loud, with good (faked) stereo separation, and the bass isn't bad for a small speaker. The guitar modelling sound good, and works well at low volume. And I can get 3 sound sources running simultaneously, which is useful : 1. A guitar plugged into the Input 2. A keyboard plugged into the Aux In 3. Music streamed over Bluetooth So, the sound is good, the connectivity is good, the downside is the software: 1. Tone Room works well, once you've got it to work at all. I had to try several different drivers from the VOX web site before I finally got Tone Room to connect from my laptop over Bluetooth. I eventually gave up trying to get Tone Room to connect from my Android phone. 2. The bundled JamVOX III software is incredibly ancient (last updated in 2013!!!), and doesn't manage to chop out the guitar solo's particularly well on the songs I tried it with. 3. There's not much of a community out there uploading tones and patches etc. Finally, I could have paid less elsewhere, but I really appreciate The Captain's video reviews, so I decided to pay an extra £10 to get it from Andertons.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Overall: I bought this after getting tired of waiting for my Positive Grid Spark to ship. I watched some videos and pulled the trigger. zZounds had the amp at my door in 24 hours. Wow! I immediately dialed up what I expected to be my primary sound — the "Brit 1959" amp. Absolutely horrible. The sound was weak and uninspiring. Even with the pre, post, and eq's dimed, the amp was nowhere near an early era Malcolm Young tone. (The target.) The JCM 800 and the Orange Rockerverb sims aren't bad–but those amps have completely different drive characteristics. At this point, I had not yet written-off the Adio completely. I streamed my iTunes through the Adio via Bluetooth, and this was the final nail-in-the-coffin. The plastic cabinet has a very specific resonant frequency that is only augmented by engaging the "Wide" mode. The songs I have known my whole life sounded completely different when played through the Adio. Even streaming "Avengers Endgame" through the Adio unpleasantly colored the audio. And again, engaging the "Wide" mode only degraded the audio further. I am returning the unit to purchase a Yamaha THR10II–which is what I should have done in the first place. (Damn your review, Lee Anderton!)They made me fill-in "manufacturer support." I have had no experience with Vox customer support.Brian

OK, I do jokingly refer to this as the "Vox Tone Purse" because it's gotten such flack over its looks. In person I think it looks fine, and I don't really care that much. Here's the deal – I generally have to put my stuff away when I'm not playing, I live in a small place. Sometimes I don't feel like getting out the pedalboard and bringing an amp into the living room, etc. In those cases I grab the Adio and sit it on the ground next to me. This thing sounds plenty good for what I use it for. Generally practicing or noodling while watching sports. I like clean-to-slightly crunch tones with reverb. I don't use the other effects much, and I've played around with the Tonelab app a bit, but not much. I just dial in a tone and play. The tones I get are satisfying and good enough – I like the tones out of my amps better, but for a small practice amp I'm fine with it. About the 50 watts – there is plenty of volume but this thing will not keep up with your average 50 watt, 12 inch speaker combo amp. It's not that kind of thing. The 50 watts is likely for clean headroom, and it's probably 25 watts per speaker. You have to use the app to control effect parameters beyond speed or depth – not a big issue. You get plenty of variety in the available amp models – I use all of them up to the Plexi and don't really touch any of the high gain stuff. Not my thing. To my ear it sounds good for clean to mildly dirty tones and has plenty of EQ and gain options which easily cater tones to single coil or humbucking pickups. Lots to like. I give it 4 stars just because nothing is perfect, but I'm very happy with this amp and use it all the time.AL

The Ac-10not only looks the business but it has since real depth and warmth to its tone. Clean – it’s bright and has the chime you’d expect. Turn up the gain and your tone breaks up but still retains clarity. Having the gain wide open and master volume down means you can still have the saturated crunch but not disturb others . Perfect for home use but would not be out of place in a small pub gig. Takes pedals will and with a multi-fix like a GT 100, if you disable the amp sim and use like a conventional pedal board, you don’t lose any quality of the AC10’s natural tone. A masterful amp and it even smells nice with those tubes cooking.Mark R.

Ive been playing 35 years and this is probably the best all around practice amp ive ever heard. Pros- looks great, sounds very good, cleans thump and chime, distortion can wail. Its loud for its size. Seems built well. Have had no bad issues. Cons- clean isnt near as loud as w the gain cranked up. No reverb. In short if this amp was 50-100W and had reverb and an external speaker jack id never play another amp. Good job VOX.jjsrvfan

I was really surprised at how good this amp sounds. Years ago I tried Line 6 and was not at all happy with the tone; but this is another story. It does take me awhile to dial in a specific classic rock tone, but when I do, it sounds better than any other amp that I've tried. I have tried the Marshall Code, Blackstar id Core, Vox Valvetronix, Boss Katana; as well as some all tube amps. The only other amp that is a close 2nd is the Fender Mustang GTX; also a great amp. The Spider V is fairly easy to operate. It offers lots of choices for amp models and cabinets. I like that it has variations of a mic'd cabinet. The parametric eq is a plus. I haven't played around too much with the effects yet, so I can't comment on that. The only negative thing I could say is that when you're editing a preset and want to hear how it sounds before you save it, you only have a short time before it goes back to the Home Screen. This really is a small price to pay for the quality of the amp and all the versatility it has. I like the App too. Musicians Friend got me a great on this as well; and their agent is following up making sure that I'm satisfied. The funny thing is that I came across this by accident. I placed an order for a Peavey amp that was on back order. I called Peavey multiple times, but they never returned my call. I also emailed them, but they didn't respond to that either. As far as I'm concerned, Peavey doesn't have any customer support.crrkr

Been playing about a year, so my review is from the perspective of a complete newbie. The things I like- Lots of presets, mobile app functions, computer interface, and loads of user created effects available. Nice and loud, but no real basis of comparison to say if clarity is better or worse than other comparable amps. Don't likes- The micro-usb interface. I had to get an adapter and it's just not as good a connection as nearly anything else would be. IMHO, micro-usb is far too flimsy. Connecting to PC is far more problematic than just using the spider mobile app. It's probably a little more complicated than it should be for a beginner, but it's feature rich for the money.Nic T

I had a Line 6 120w amp for years that I regrettably sold a while ago and was looking for another amp. I looked at all the amp reviews I could find and decided that the new Katana was the way to go. I got the Katana home and absolutely loved it but the second day I had it it started a really loud buzzing that I couldn't stop. It probably was an easy fix but the fact is the amp was way too powerful for my purposes and their software wasn't compatible with the new Catalina OS. I returned and started looking again. I saw the 60w Spider V and the price was excellent so I made an on the spot decision to buy another Line 6 and I'm really glad I did. The tones this amp can get are incredible. There are so many amp models and cabs that you can dial in pretty much any tone you want from a crispy snapback country clean to the most vicious heavy metal and everything in between. You can use the presets as they are or you can use them as a baseline and tweak to your own liking or you can start from scratch and build your own rig from the ground up. The controls are intuitive and easy to use but there are some features where you'd have to be a professional to really know how to use or even care to use. The software and the mobile app are so easy to use and give you all the options at your fingertips. The amp comes with a lot of presets that I find are completely useless but there are a lot that are excellent as I already talked about. There are only four empty slots for your own custom presets and I wish there were more but if you use the mobile app you can have your own tone library on there. I bought the FBV3 foot controller so that gives me a lot of flexibility to have various effects. One of the limitations is the lack of good effects though. There's enough that if you work at it you can get a decent sound but there could be some better ones. Overall I would recommend the amp. Don't listen to the naysayers or the amp snobs, it's a quality amp and extremely versatile.Just Plain Joe

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

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

Wasn't sure about this little guy – – but the one I received was in pristine shape, with power brick and carry handle. I power it with 6 rechargeable AA Lithium batteries – and it'll run x 6 hours easy without recharging. I play an acoustic guitar (i installed a Fishman rare earth pickup) in a small orchestra with a piano, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, etc, and only need to run at about 35% max volume to blend in well with the group. The effects are great and well modeled. I'm very happy with this Roland – Highly Recommended.oxydoc

I've taken up giving lessons in my home and, in other locations and, dragging around even a moderate size amp was not in my plans. I did some shopping and, came up with the Micro Cube as my answer, WOW what a feature filled little powerhouse! I debated going to just a plain small practice amp but, after I tried one it reminded me of trying to play through an old transistor radio. Very bland boring sound and, only a push button to get an overdrive sound that sounded pretty bad. This Roland unit sounds Fantastic at 3w and, with only a 5" speaker, I don't know how they do it but, it's Great!! The convenience of battery power is something that I really enjoy also. Take it anywhere! The FX sound Super, amp models are a nice touch and, even a tuner. The 1/8" input is a nice touch to jam with backing tracks or any type of sounds. Taking this to lessons is sooo much more handier than a 30lb. amp. There is only a tone control but, it is really all you need to get the sound you want. The memory function is a handy feature so save preset sounds for each amp model. The only thing I haven't tried is to plug a Mic in and, check it out but, I definately will and, I'm betting that the results will be positive there also. I'm soooo glad I spent the extra dinero and, went with this amp. I'm very satisfied and, definately recommend this anyone looking for small portable amp for practice or any other reason to have a light weight amp that sounds really good. I don't think that I would run a bass through it but, at low volume I wouldn't be surprised that it could handle it. I play a lot of different instruments, fiddle,mandolin,ulelele and, harmonica and, going to try them all in this amp.terrygh

In general this is a great little amp. It is loud, but its frequency range is narrow. I would expect something so small to be weak on bass, but I am surprised at how poor the high frequency is. I have to turn the tone all the way up to make it sound like a regular amp. I will try different speakers and the line out into a different amp to see if the poor high end is either the speaker or amp. The headphone output sounds much better, so I believe the issue is not in the internal electronics. In general I would recommend this amp. So much that I am buying another to give to my son in college as a dorm amp. He is interested in the headphone feature, which sounds very good. As a practice amp this little thing does a great job. The effects are better on some settings than others. but I think there are more effects on this amp than other brands. The portability is great. The battery life it pretty good for how loud it is. With the line input you can not only play along to songs, unaffected by the guitar effects, but it turns your phone into a loud jam box. There is a lot of loud "bang for the buck" in the little amp.Dowacky

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

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

I had been looking at a new tube amp and had a couple different amps in mind. My local GC is rather small but on a recent trip to the Chicago area I stumbled across one of these in the wild. I played it for about 15 minutes and new I had to buy it. It sounds incredible. I really like how simple the clean channel is with just a volume control, but allows the true sound of the guitar to shine through. It loves single coils and has really nice breakup at higher volumes. The dirty channels exactly that but you can get everything from creamy overdrive to crunchy distortion. Even at the lower watt settings you have plenty of headroom. I'm a big fan of the twin 10in speakers and the tube buffered effects loop is a great addition. My only wish is that it would come with a foot pedal. Regardless, I could not be happier with this amp.Evan P

Using this amp primarily with a PRS McCarty 594 and it continues to amaze me more the longer I own with it… the natural channel is clear, bright and balanced. I can easily dial the overdrive to the distortion needed to cover Deep Purple, AC/DC stuff and dial it down for classic softer stuff like Allman Bros and. Fleetwood Mac. Haven't even begun to see everything that could be done with the effects loop… wah and delay pedals sound fantastic… very full with the double voice of the world stereo speakers. Both channels are plenty loud for gigging in smaller venues… even with drums. Effects loop in/out could be more accessible as they are tucked up inside the back… just a minor issue though. This amp is beefy, feels like it could take a beating . Weight is not bad considering it's a combo and I haven't had any trouble carrying it up and down stairs when I take it out. Very happy with this amp…. I feel like it's one of the best combos out there right now.John

Just picked this up new. I was swapping back an evh 5150 head and prs stealth 212 cab (god that thing was sweet), because it didn't take my helix line 6 very well in the 4 cable method. I was trying out a mesa solo rectifier 112 combo, a vox AC 30 and this amp. The cleans of an AC30 are my favorite of the three, and the mesa certainly had more chunk on the distortion channel than the other two (although that evh through the prs cab was simply another world better than any of these three amps). The rocker 32 however had a pretty nice clean sound, if inflexible (no tone control at all), and about as much drive as an or15(one of my favorite amps). You can get some serviceable metal tones, although I'm sure a speaker upgrade might do wonders for the tone of the amp. It's just extremely versatile and flexible, I prefer to get my gain from my amp, then maybe throw an 808 in front of the amp, I'm not a huge fan of distortion pedals. NOW onto why this amp was such a must have. This amp will make your effects sound studio quality. No more worrying about mixing in your effects loop or a dropoff in volume. Your delays will sound utterly pristine, without and kinda gunk added on in the fx loop. it will simply bring your effects to life, and the stereo effect really can add quite element to your live playing. The speakers need to be upgraded, but at a pricepoint of 1100, they had to cut corners somewhere on a 30 watt 2×10 amp. This might not be your go to amp for tone when recording, or an absolute thumper for live metal shows, but if you're an effect junkie, this is a loud enough, versatile enough amp that is a must have for you. Absolute perfect combo for my line 6 helixMatt

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

This is Orange Amplifiers entry into the Acoustic Amp business and they have done a wonderful job of capturing the needs of an acoustic player and the portability that is needed for small venue and street musicians. I really like this amp. It is surprisingly loud and clear for its size. I am very pleased. Reverb and Chorus are very functional and sound great as well.John

Was on the fence for over a year on the Marshall DSL 1 Watt. Ended up getting a steal on a Blackstar HT1 head and went with that, which is a great amp but pretty quickly regretted not going with the DSL due to more range of EQ. Made the move for the DSL but decided to go up to a 5 watt due to Volume/Gain on the Classic gain setting. I have worked it for over a month now and extremely pleased with the purchase. The classic gain will not get a usable crunch for me but is an awesome clean channel for pedals, which it takes extremely well. The ultra gain, at low settings is great for classic rock. I am not much of a metal guy so really don't go for anything over noon on the ultra gain. I am not a big fan of the speaker, although it does sound much better after break in. I run it basically as a head into a 1 x 12 cab which has a 12 inch celestion 90th anniversary speaker, which sounds excellent. Will eventually swap out the internal speaker for a greenback. Lastly, I would highly recommend this amp to those on the fence between the 1watt and 5 watt. Actually, those dead set on the 1watt, take a pause and re-evaluate. I noticed minimal DB difference between my 1watt blackstar and 5 watt DSL that if concerned with volume issues, don't be. Even with 5 watt setting, the max DB is not much more than what I got out of the blackstar. With the .5 watt setting on the DSL, it was even lower for bedroom volume. The 5 watt is much better choice over the 1 watt simply due to the classic channel volume setting.Axel

Overall: This is a great practice amp with the onboard 10” speaker, and also sounds incredible when ran through my buddy’s 4×12 Marshall cabinet. If you don’t like the factory speaker, Celestion makes some very fine replacements you can pop in. If you want to play through a bigger stack, unplug the onboard speaker and run a cable from this combo to the stack. If you want that Marshall DSL tone, an amp from this line is definitely what you’re looking for. Some of the features that made this the right amp for me include:- low power mode: when engaged, I can dial the gain as high as I want without notifying the rest of my apartment complex that I’m rocking out. Conversely, don’t let the five watt power rating deter you if you’re after volume – you’ll definitely be able to cause a noise complaint if you so choose. The selling point for me, however, was being able to dial in that Marshall tone at a volume one can speak over. Whether playing with the hot EMGs in my Les Paul, the even hotter humbuckers in my Blacktop Jaguar, the 490s in my SG, or the comparatively quiet Texas Specials and Atomic humbucker setup in my Strat, the cleans are articulate and the distortion is wonderful. This amp also takes my pedals, including my variety of dirt pedals (EHX Big Muff Pi for fuzz, a modified Boss DS1 for distortion, and an EHX East River Drive for OD) like a champ.- included foot switch: This was a fantastic bonus. The cabling on it is sufficient in length to play practically anywhere and still be able to switch channels without running across the room.- onboard reverb: While I don’t use it often, it’s much more articulate than I was expecting. Not in the same class as my EHX pedal, but definitely a nice added feature.- emulated line out: This is fantastic. No need for a direct box, no mucking about with a USB/FireWire/Thunderbolt interface when I want to jack in and record, no latency issues, and no mucking about with software effects to get my sound just right. A mini jack cable to the line-in on my laptop or DAW allows me to record my sound, off of my signal chain, with no issues whatsoever. I love it.- effects loop: this was something that my Orange Micro Terror lacked. While I don’t use it frequently, it is nice to have the option. Bottom line, if you want a worthy successor to the original Dual Super Lead in a package that won’t blow the roof off your house and would be sufficient for gigging small venues (which I have with this amp,) this is probably the amplifier for you. 5/5, would definitely recommend this or others from their DSL line.Mike

Great amp. Exactly what I have been looking for for years. Looks amazing sounds incredible. I added a boss ge7 in the effects loop to give it a bit more. Love this amp!!!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I previously owned an original black 88 2555 that was WAY TOO loud for any real practical application playing in a bar band. I've always wanted to own a more usable Jubilee type but would never pull the trigger on any excessive prices for used 50 watters. When I saw the 20 watt combo using EL34s I was intrigued and pulled the trigger after getting a 15% off deal. This app IS very usable on the 20 watt setting .. it simple sounds like a driven Marshall. I play anything from Beatles to Stones to STP to Foo Fighters and this amp works .. very loud on the 20 watt setting. Be careful with pedals … you can use low gain pedals on the clipping channel .. but none are needed to the lead channel. The combo also sounds great into my Sourmash 2×12 with G12-65s.scissorman

Ive been looking a great sounding guitar amp combination for quite some time and after trying every thing out there I have found it. Awesome cleans and crunchy rhythms. I had a DSL40C for a couple of months and could never get to sound like I wanted. The 2525 out of the box sounded killer. I love this amp.Michael Green $r.