Monoprice 5 Watt Guitar Amp For Sale (2024 Update)

I had to make myself stop playing this Amp long enuf to write my review. This 30 watt 1 X 12 Celestion V30 Tube Stack simply Rocks my World! Bucket List item for me! Always wanted a Tube Stack with a creamy rich mid – range and a narly distortion channel. Foot switch turns reverb and overdrive on and off. 3 band EQ, 1/4" speaker cable. I love me some pedals and they blend well with this Amp. Quality build. Simply the best Amp my Guitars have played. Jazzmaster , Kramer and Mike Rowan all sound amazing. Arrived quickly in sturdy and well packaged shipping cartons. Guitar World review was spot on. peace, MarnyeMARNYE

Very nice tones from this amp, clean or dirty! I have been using it mic’d with a 609 clone, haven’t had the chance to crank it yet. I use a roadhouse Strat and fine on the dirty channel with the gain at 5 I can get a great, clear cleanish tone, and then hit the Strats preamp and have some nice grit! Not fizzy fuzzy grit, but nice organic breakup that is very pleasing to the ear. I run a TC Plethora in the FX loop and get great results, no jump or drop in volume, just sounds natural. For some extra gain I use a Boss OD200 into the front of the amp, glorious!! Quite surprising that an amp of this build and sound quality is available at this price point but it is and I’m glad I pulled the trigger on it. Looks to be plywood for amp cab and speaker cab, nice touch. All this and a V30 speaker! I don’t know when or if the speaker will “break in” but I’ll be using the amp mic’d most of the time so it may take awhile, and honestly couldn’t imagine it sounding any better! Only had it a few days, and haven’t moved it since I set it up so I can’t speak for how long it will last in the long run, but fingers are crossed.Ronald

Just received my stack on 3/16/20. Packaged great!. Overall build quality is very very good no particle board here all real solid wood cabinet for the head , speaker with a nice ply baffle I think it's 3/4 ". Light weight. Asthetics ,cosmetics tolex and Grill cloth with piping perfect. Reverb is digital no tank or Springs here it is not tube driven. Bright switch works great pedal for Reverb and gain Channel works great extra-long cable to connect the head to the cabinet with power cord great. Clean tones on this amp whether a low or hi channel are amazing . kind of somewhere between vox/ marshall cleans. Definitely Fender sounding w bright switch. Gig Worthy!. Loud amp!. Digital Reverb is okay. You must turn it up to around 4 or 5 to hear it. It's clean channels are where this amp shines . On the gain channel, Ican get some good tones but not super high gain here more in the classic rock 1960- 1970's tone. Great but no super High gain. Kinda on the thinner side, Not very Fat. 3 chinese 12ax7, ( maybe a swap out in this area may give better tone), all 4 el84 Are Eurotube JJ'S!!!! So happy to see this. Celestion V30 spkr cab sounds great, full with depth. Classic rock tone!. Highly recommended..strange looking chinese power tnsfrmr, but Ot looks good. Voiced similiar to monoprice. 15 watt duel el84 model, but not as aggressive. Blows away the Bulgara V22.. Etc. Nice product monoprice!New User

Where do I start? Well, how about, this is the best tube amp I have ever played! 62 years with many guitars and many amps, some owned, some borrowed, and some tested in music shops, might give me a little credibility. I have loved a Fender Twin Reverb, made in the 50s that my uncle Keith, and my guitar mentor, loaned me for a while. It just sounded so good. Never could seem to find cash, or justification to buy a tube amp, but have owned a hal a dozen solid states. THEN THIS LITTLE BEAUTY! Having played the Twin for a couple of years, and others such as a Mesa Boogie, VOX's, and too many others to recall, THIS monster sounds like most of them with just little tweaks of the knobs and my guitar switches. I have played country, 60s and 70s rock, blues, finger-style instrumentals, gospel, etc. I believe this is the PERFECT combo, with the correct (JJ) tubes, a sweet (and dirty when desired) Seventy/80 speaker, and an amazing diversity of sounds, which works in every genre I play! I do not know how anyone can find reason to bad mouth this. I had it for 2 weeks, was asked to fill an absent, guitarist's spot at an outdoor venue, I took this little amp. We played to an area the size of a football field. I set the amp on 1 Watt, until I could hear it cleanly (behind me on stage), let the sound man mic and mix me in. Never had to turn it above about 4, with gain between 1 and 4, and many complemented me on my sound, and musicians asked me WHAT IS THAT LITTLE AMP? Those are the good points. I can only think of two piddly things I would like to see changed, and one would be a standby switch, and the second being a way to run the external speaker WITHOUT cutting off the amp speaker. Until then, I will just keep playing this sweetheart amp, and enjoy the statements about "my sound," and the question of WHAT IS THAT LITTLE AMP? Keep playing everybody…and maybe buy one of these. I do not believe you will regrety it.New User

These amps are fantastic, and at these bargain prices you simply can't go wrong. I upgraded the reverb tank in mine to a Mod and changed the speaker for a Warehouse GC12. OMG, this thing is a beast! Another WGS option I've seen people use is the ET65 for a more British tone, also with good results. The stock speaker is not too bad, but this one simple upgrade of swapping the speaker takes the amp to the next level. It just sounds awesome. The upgraded reverb tank is also an improvement, but not as much as I thought it would be. If I had to do it over again I would just take out the stock tank and use a pedal for reverb and make the amp even lighter to haul around. The more important upgrade imo is the speaker. It really makes a world of difference. Grab one reasonably while you still can, the price keeps creeping up and up and up… !Jeff

After a number of FEDEX issues, I received my amp about 5 days later than estimated. It did arrive in excellent condition and was worth the wait. The Stage Right 611815 has a really sweet tone that sounds particularly good with the single coil pickups on my Fender Sratocaster Player. It breaks up nicely! The reverb works perfectly, and is fine for most playing but you might want an external reverb unit if you are playing Dick Dale tunes. A really nice feature for home playing is the 15W/1W switch, where you can limit the amp to 1 W (be aware that with sound, you have to increase the wattage by 10 times to double the perceived volume, so the 1W setting is a lot more than 1/15th as loud as the 15W setting). It is a bit unusual to have a tone control along with the more common bass, middle and treble controls. Personally, I would have labeled the Tone control as Presence, because that is what it seems to be. I have mostly been playing in the 1W mode with all the controls (including reverb) at 12 o clock, and that is working out great. As far as construction, the amp looks fantastic and gives a vintage look that hints at its tone! The dark grill cloth provides a nice contrast with the blonde tolex, giving a true vintage appearance. The retro red, jeweled pilot light and metal toggle switch complement the vintage styling Keeping with the vintage look, the control panel is chrome with retro chicken head knobs. As others have mentioned, the control names are a little bit difficult to read on the chrome panel. After you use the controls once, you know where they are, so does it really matter (I noticed the blonde version of the Fender Blues Jr also uses a chrome control panel…probably where Monoprice got the idea)? The tolex is neatly installed and glued, at least the parts that are exposed. The leather handle is also reminiscent of old school amps. And I really like the metal corner protectors…very nice. As proudly announced by a badge on the front panel, the amp is equipped with a Celestion speaker…a Seventy 80 The only criticism of the construction, and it is minor, is that the 8 external screws are not chamfered properly to mesh with the finishing washers, which result in the screw heads protruding above the washers. The amp has a jack for an external speaker. When you plug in an external speaker, the internal speaker is shut off, as is common with guitar amps. The reason is if you plug in an external 8 ohm speaker and the internal speaker would still be on, a (combined) 4 ohm load would be presented to the amplifier, which it is not designed to handle. The back is open. The line cord is not detachable, but can be conveniently stowed in the back of the amp. The amp has an effects loop, which I have not tried yet. The amp is now equipped with JJ brand tubes and a metal, two spring, reverb tank, which are upgrades from the original issue I wish I could find a nice, economical (i.e. $20) dust cover for the amp. The only ones I can find are priced at $50 or more, a bit much for protecting an inexpensive amp. In conclusion, the Stage Right 611815 amp looks great and sounds great, and I highly recommend it.Chris

The combo amp arrived double boxed. Very simple operation. Construction is solid and simple. Headphone out, line in & out, make this a versatile practice amplifier. For the money I have not seen a better offering. In my den it is more than loud enough. Eventually I will buy a modeling amplifier but it is more than adequate to complete its current task. I have no problems recommending this practice amplifier.Brian

I was looking for a cheap little ultraportable practice amp. The usual suspects are like the Fender Frontman 10W with a 6” speaker. I figured that if I could get a Monoprice with two channels, 20 watts and an 8” speaker for less money, I should go for it. First off, there were no cosmetic flaws. Second, everything works all of the knobs and plugs do what they should. The clean channel produces no noise other than the sound of the guitar. You can turn it all the way up and still hear only the guitar. What more can you ask? The gain channel works well also. What does works well mean? It means that my distortion pedal definitely produces more of a tube sound, but the amp does well enough that the pedal stays home. Using gain, the sustain is impressive. I even get a surprising amount of sustain from the clean channel which indicates that some form of uncleanliness is occurring, but I do not hear it. Bottom line? Big Bang for the buck! PROS: Easy to toss in the car or carry down the street Does everything you could reasonable expect for the cash My girlfriend says it is "cute." CONS: When I plug in my modelling stompbox and set it to emulate a "4 X 12 Marshall stack" it doesn't sound like a "4 X 12 Marshall stack" My girlfriend says it is "cute."Ed from Merritt Island

Bought this amp as a second practice amp, since my wife needed an amp for her new bass. The clean channel is really nice, sparkly and rich without mud. The overdrive channel is a bit murky, sounding a bit more like a weak fuzz than a good overdrive. It works alright, but the sound isn't really for me. I prefer to stick to the clean channel when using it, despite the fact that I'm mainly a metal player! I haven't tried it with any pedals, but I may need to snap up a couple distortion and overdrive and see if those can give me the tone I want.Kailin

Pleased with this amp awesome tube sound clean channel is very nice. Reverb nothing to brag about but it's there. Speaker is nice prefer v30s or greenbacks will eventually switch out. Takes pedals very well have not used the fx loop yet but I'm sure it's good. Would of been nice if it came with footswitch. All around happy for $357 plus tax well worth it.Heriberto

Firstly, let me say how quickly Monoprice shipped this to me .. ordered on Monday and delivered Wednesday morning to NY! Guess MP is now shipping from Kentucky, which is great .. no more 5 days in transit from CA to NY 🙂 The amp itself? All I can say is WOW!!! Solidly built with classy looking trimming all around, protective metal bumpers on all 8 corners, top handle with sufficient padding that won't cause hand cramps when carried. On to the sound sections: ——————————– I spent around 3 hours toying with the amp using my G&L ASAT (large MFD pups), just going thru the various gain/volume and tone settings on each channel, and overall my impression is that this amp is capable of achieving a wide variety of tones, from bell clean to screaming metal and everything in between. Clean Channel is absolutely gorgeous sounding. Nice three-dimensional timbre which can only be achieved with a tube amp. Tone controls (Treb/Mid/Bass) seem to interact with each other in a pleasant manner, by turning one or another the tone changes dramatically but still subtly, if that makes any sense. /grin … The Bright switch reacts similarly, it's almost as if there are two sets of overall tone in the clean channel, just by switching 'Bright' on or off. Drive Channel is what you'd expect – lots of crunch with the aforementioned Treb/Mid/Bass interactions. I'm not much of a 'metal' type player, so can't really comment on this section with an opinion, but I liked what I heard in "Drive". Monoprice hit it out of the ballpark with this amp, for mid sized gigs or even small gigs, this amp is a clear winner.New User

The only complaint is the speaker used. While I do understand the logic, I still am not a fan of the celestion seventy 80s. Although, it could be addressed by just adjusting the settings. I got mine shipped securely. I updated the speakers to emminence cannibis rex but thats just for my own taste. Wpuld be nice to have different options for the speaker if that is feasible at all for monoprice. Bottom line, its a lot of ampmfor the price. I highly recommend it!Zed Byron Pisec

The amp was solidly built, more than I expected. The sound was clean. The reverb did create a little background noise when turned up over half way. The chorus was clean. I left the tone controls at midpoint because the amp’s natural sound was quite adequate. Most surprising is that when I used it with my solid body and hollow body electric guitars, it sounded better than the two name brand guitar maker’s amps that I have. I prefer clean tones and do not use fuzz, crunch, distortion, or high gain signal disruption. I do use full chorus and partial reverb this amp and with it’s inherent excellent sound it performs perfectly.Keith

This is a tough one to write about. This amp has so much going for it. Its clean tones are much better than expected. The reverb effect is more than up to the challenge. However, the chorus effect is almost non-existent. It has to be dialed up to beyond "8" to have any signs of life, and even then it does not sound anything like what a chorus effect should be. I know, what many people would say is: what do you expect for $ 79 ? I expect everything to work as labeled and promised.David

I just got this amplifier yesterday and I took it through an hour long test. It is very solidly made, it has a genuinely good sound. I play guitar in church so I don?t need a lot of volume. I just need to be able to keep up with piano and light drums. It?s absolutely perfect for that. I play an acoustic guitar with a condenser mic pick up that has very high fidelity. The amp reproduces the sound very faithfully., much better than my electric guitar amp. If I needed more volume it has a line out that could go directly to the sound system. I highly recommend it.Tom

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

Not only does this 5 watt lil' monster have enough power to rattle the windows, it also has class! At only 9 lbs. the Bugera T5 Infinium has enough "UMFF" to push your favorite 4X12" cabinet into the stratosphere! It's better having this reverb built into this lil' madman than not having any at all. Just like 9/10 of the other amp heads in its class. The 1 channel, "all tube" head has warm cleans. Push in the PHAT switch and crank the volume and gain and you get saturated distortion that will blow you away! All of that in a 9 lb metal cage like package for only $200! You won't find another 5 W head with all of that for this price. I love my T5 Infinium from Bugera!brmul-8207

What it's not: Not a $1k boutique tube amp. Not a mid-size club amp (unless you have great monitors and a good sound guy). What it is: A well designed, very affordable little monster that will give enough stage volume at 5W for rehearsals in a full rock band or small club, and will also allow you to drive the output stage at that 1W or 1/2W setting for recording at home. The amp sounds best at 5W and driven into either a 4ohm cabinet or two 8ohm cabs. If you use it to drive an 8ohm cab, you are getting only 70% of its potential. I only use el84 based amps. i love their dark, throaty sound, and while this amp doesn't have the punch or snap I get from my 15W custom built el 84 amps, it sounds great for rehearsal or recording. I am a little bit worried about long-term build quality. The input jack is plastic. I have a hard time seeing that surviving a year of rehearsals without breaking. This is a great supplemental amp for rehearsals and recording. Very smartly designed. Good feature set. And if you like the el84 style sound, it delivers it above expectations at this price range. I'm thinking of getting a second one.klktrk

In these days of small solid state, practice amps, this little amp gives you tube tone and more at a very affordable price. A 12ax7 preamp tube and an EL84 power tube provide the tone along with built in reverb, 2 band EQ, gain and a "phat" overdrive switch for added crunch. The three stage attenuator is a nice touch. The stock Bugera tubes are OK but I switched them out with Tung-Sols which provided a rich creamy overdrive more to my liking. Great sound when plugged into my Orange 8" or 12" cab plus headphone jack for late night playing. Great amp for the price!Isom

I purchased the Monoprice 50 Watt Stereo Hybrid Tube Amplifier with Bluetooth and Line Output as a birthday present to myself after researching a number of hybrid tube amps, & felt this unit, paired with the Monoprice MP-T65RT Tower Home Theater Speakers, along with my ART Pro-VLA II 2-channel Opto Tube Leveling Amplifier & ART EQ355 Dual Channel 31-Band Equalizer would be the perfect combination for enjoying my vintage vinyl collection, played on my Technics SP-10 MK2 turntable, equipped with vintage Stanton 500EEE cartridge. When the Amp arrived, I was initially taken back after unwrapping it, and puzzled to find the tubes were installed, when the website indicated the tubes ship uninstalled to prevent damage during shipping, and the manual reinforced that statement as well, so I was even more dismayed to see the tell tale signs of an obviously fried tube (one of the 6P1's. I immediately fired off an email (because the package arrived late in the day, and customer support wouldn't be available until the next morning. I left a very detailed message stating my situation (receiving a new amp with a bad tube, Installed!) and indicated I would follow up the next day, but was hoping to at least have a replacement tube shipped right away, so I could begin enjoying my new item. After a chat with customer support the next day, I learned that they don't ship replacement tubes, and the only way to remedy the matter would be for me to ship my unit back, wait for it to be received, & then receive a replacement item. I was NOT particularly happy with that "Solution" especially since I was even willing to pay overnight shipping on my own just because I was so eager to test out this amp, but since that's what I was told, I figured, ok- so be it, and got my unit all packed up & ready to ship out, but I did take the time to leave a message for MonoPrice's customer support explaining how absurd it was I should have to ship the unit back & they deal with that expense, when it's so much easier to ship a simple tube, less expensive, & addressing the issue head on. Well, I heard back from an incredibly kind & understanding lady named Laura, who was the Customer Service Supervisor, & took note of my situation, and apparently had empathy on my situation, and turned what otherwise would have been a very negative opinion about MonoPrice & it's service, into a stellar example of how a customer should be treated. Not only did she expedite the shipping of a new amp out to me once my returned item was picked up by Fed Ex the next morning, but she really took the time to listen to me (we spent about a half hour on the phone together reviewing my situation and my explaining to her how ridiculous it was to ship this whole (somewhat heavy) amp back just because one tube was fried, and I also discussed some other matters such as the availability of replacement tubes for this item not being available on the site, & she really listened to me & indicated she would work within the proper channels of her company to see what she could do to rectify some glaring issues she agreed were sore spots, and thanked me for my input. Bottom line, the very next day, I had a new amp delivered to me , couldn't wait to unpack it, & get it all set up, and I'm pleased to report this is ONE AWESOME PRODUCT! Not only does the amp sound incredible, but the speakers are an excellent pairing to the Monoprice 50 Watt Stereo Hybrid Tube Amplifier . The added feature of the BlueTooth is a really nice touch, and the tonal controls (in addition to the many rave reviews I read about the product overall) were icing on the cake for me. I've spent the better half of my Wednesday afternoon listening to a number of albums from my vintage vinyl collection, and can't wait for the weekend to listen to even more! 🙂 This amp has power, and it SOUNDS INCREDIBLE!! It's I have a sub woofer hooked up to it, & it adds even more Oomph! to the sonic quality. Even enduring the issue initially with the bum 6P1 tube, I must say this company DOES stand behind their products, and they DO care about their customers, and I will definitely consider future purchases from MonoPrice, in particular, due to the prompt, courteous and proactive support I received from Laura P. in particular, who I would like to personally thank for making it a "Happy" Birthday for me after all. This is one AMAZING hybrid tube amp folks, you really can't go wrong if your hooking up any kind of half decent source to this unit, everything works flawlessly and it SOUNDS TERRIFIC! While the video I attached can't do the sound justice because I just recorded it off my cell phone, still – you can get an idea of how I've incorporated the Hybrid Tube Amplifier with Bluetooth into my audio chain. It truly is AWESOME!New User

My first impression removing the unit from the shipping carton was its weight. It weighs very much like a vintage tube amp, and I have three of the old ones. One of them needed work that cost more than the Mono, so I thought I would give the hybrid a try. I am glad I did. I has all the warmness of my old Stromberg Carlson, and the Mono is very powerful. The volume is sensitive; possibly due to the solid state aspect, volume adjustments are very slight. The sound is deep, rich, and full. I am still waiting to exprience the "tube bloom" I keep hearing about–with a tube Harmon Kardon Ballad amp, at about fifteen watts, you could hear individual instruments in different parts of the room, or what I think of as spatial balance. The Mono surprised me with its stereo separation, and when those tubes bloom, this is going to be one very interesting amplifier at 50 watts per. For less than a tube overhaul, the Mono is making me one very happy listener.David

Bought to fill in for a vintage NAD amp that is being refurbished. Pushing power hungry low efficiency Polk Audio Monitor 10B speakers. I read a number of reviews prior to selecting this unit- really my first tube stereo setup besides guitar amps and I appreciate the hefty 53 watts per side as many true “purist“ push pull tube amps have very meager power output. hybrid incorporates a fairly beefy class AB for the power section but has the “warm fuzzies” we all appreciate and expect from a tube setup. “burn in” of tubes – ran the unit continuously with music throughout two days. Noticed the initial harshness especially with Digital media, subdue after about 3 hrs, by day 2 was impressed by the separation, warmth and mids tubes are noted for, bass response surprisingly present and solid. Minor annoyances: power LED is a laser beam! Bluetooth input level is too low. VU meter is useless gimmick, needs BAL option, acceptable tube hum noticed only near field. Great sound worth the priceRollo

I played through this amp with the battery and with the AC adaptor, and with multiple guitars. Switched from clean to dirty and used my bridge and neck pickups with and without the coil tap. This amp isn't super loud at 5W, but it is an amp made for portability and practicing. Sounds awesome clean with the neck pickup single coil, and gets nasty dirty (a little too much with gain set anything past 6)with my bridge double humbucker. The sound is really quite good for this size amp. The tone control has a decent range of sounds to switch between. I was out on my deck last night playing through this thing and the sound and portability reassured me I made a great purchase. Definitely would buy again.Ace McCloud

This little five watt amp has the heart of a Lion. Clean channel is from crisp and articulate to warm and wrap it up in a sweater goodness. The drive channel with the greater level of tone control can be any sound you want, truly. It's up to you. I drive this amp through a close backed cabinet of my own design made with plank spruce and 8" Jensen Mod 35 speakers. It sounds amazing. Rich full tone and great response to picking level (hit it hard and it'll bark at you. Soft and it will whisper too.) It also has digital reverb which for me coming from spring will take a little getting used to. Overall a great addition to anyone's arsenal of amps.codboy61

I bought this strictly for my bedroom but found it's much more. It gets loud enough for band practice on the dirty channel and the clean with the volume up gets a nice breakup. It handles pedals well in the loop or an overdrive out front. I don't care for the morph when it's fully left or right on the dirty channel but you get nice tones on the clean side. The attenuator is the reason I bought it and I love it. I A/B'd it with the ht5 and couldn't see spending the extra cash on the Blackstar. Then I A/B'd with my modded dsl15h on triode (7 watt) and it made me wonder how much of the signal is tube and how much is solid state, but I don't know if that's fair given the Marshall has 4 12ax7 and 2 6v6 tubes. Can't speak to durability yet but it seems well built, and I haven't used the emulated out. All in all I'd recommend it for the price and the featuresgbob61

I bought this amp for my granddaughter who is a young student of guitar. For the money this amplifier can't be beat! Quality sound and sturdy build! Everything works as it is supposed to. I'm completely satisfied. Exceeded my expectations in every category! I'm about to order another one for myself, for practicing, so I can leave my big, PRO performance amp stowed away. My highest recommendation!!rgwhitlock

I initially was pleased with the overall functionality of the amp. The features at this price range were great, and I liked the tones I was able to generate. However, within a day I started getting some weird rattling noises as well as buzzing. I'm guessing there were some wires crossed on the inside. I'm not great at fixing electronics so I returned it. I think this amp has potential, but if the manufacturer can't minimize these issues in the simple construction process, I'm not risking purchasing it again.Russell

This amp has great sound. I like the response of the EQ. I also like that its load! It looks nice and is durably constructed. I bought this to run a ZOOM multi-effects processor to the front-end clean channel. I am very happy so far with its perfomance. I would have no problem playing a small venue with just the amp. Larger venues as a monitor with Its ability to connect to a mixer >PA is just a bonus. I like that it has an effects loop for more options. This is a tremendous value at this price-point. I have nothing bad to say about this product. I will say,IF it had a 1/4in' footswitch jack I would have purchased the Monoprice footswitch as well. As is you have to use the button on the unit to change to the gain channel.(Not an issue for me) I enjoy the thump from my drum machine through this product! I would recommend this product.Thank you,Monoprice!David

I needed an inexpensive practice amp for home use, so I bought this amp – big mistake! I wasn't expecting the sound of a more expensive amp, but this amp is nothing more than a noise machine. The sound is filled with static and noise to the point it is unusable. The static and noise push the little sound you get to the background. Maybe, I received a bad amp, but I'll never know since MF felt the issue lay with my personal sound quality preference and not the amp. Apparently, for MF the sound quality is good enough for an inexpensive amp, and the customer should be aware. To a degree, MF is right – I should have known better, but I never thought there would be absolutely no sound quality. STAY AWAY FROM THIS AMP!Jack

Originally purchased a Rogue Rocketeer Electric Guitar Pack, which included this G10 Amplifier, for my Great Nephew for Christmas. However, the one which came with the Pack didn't sound right and quit completely after about 15 minutes. I notified Musician's Friend Customer Service about the problem and they immediately took care of it by sending a replacement. The replacement arrived and it worked fine, and sounded good for a 10 watt practice amplifier. Was very pleased with the sound and quality. It even has a little drive button which gives the amp a little bit of distortion if you like to play that sort of thing. Very pleased with the product and with Musician's Friend for making things right.Music_Al

I was getting a beater electric guitar for my new place and needed a small, inexpensive 10W amp. This was just about the cheapest thing on the market that met my criteria. Frankly, I was just blown away. It sounds like a legitimately good amp. Powerful too; I haven't once yet moved the volume knob higher than about the "2" setting when in overdrive mode. At the price it was everything I could have hoped for and then some.Z

overall I really like this amp. the dirty channel has a good crunch. Not a very tainted sound, which I like a lot. Clean channel is not real chimy like some, but nice and clean. the face plate is also black, unlike the 30 watt which is easier to see. The issue is the channel switching. While some amps are known for a load pop, this is quite the opposite, and I am guessing the pop is what they were trying to avoid. this one actually drops in volume and then comes back up between channels. Deal breaker. I can't use this live if it cuts out. Really wanted to have this kicking around for a second amp. But I will be returning this.brian

First one arrived and the overdrive channel sounded awful. Made arrangements to return it and the process went quick, I had a new one a week after sending the bad one back. The second one turned out as advertised. You can dial in a wide range of tones and has that beautiful tube sound. The reverb is just a tad weak but still ok. Also, effects pedals sound great. It?s an awesome buy.Leo

I had a 50 watt 6L6 guitar head and sold it only to regret it later. I saw this one on sale and I took a chance. Glad I did. Disclaimer: I only use it for a pedal platform, although I have tried the gain channel. It's "ok" (not great) but to use the amp that way you'll really have to work with the both channels to achieve unity volume. As a clean channel pedal platform it's great. Like others have said the reverb is lacking but I usually just leave it on 10:00 for ambience. This amp is LOUD and can easily hang with a large band if needed. As far as reliability, time will tell, but it seems well made IMO.john

I took a flyer on this purchase and overall I?m pretty satisfied with it, just need to make a few more tweaks to the setup. It definitely sounds good, it?s just a bit underpowered for me, but considering how often my wife is asking me to turn things down, that?s not necessarily a bad thing! Plenty of input options, including phono, line and optical, as well as a subwoofer out. Pretty cool looking as well! So for the price, I guess you can say I?m good with it all!Tim

Way better than expected. I went into this with open eyes – I knew this wasn’t going to sound like a $2k tube amp and some reviews were, well, brutal. Nonetheless, for the price it was worth a shot. I paired this with inexpensive Polk bookshelf speakers and WOW. Much nicer sound quality than I expected. No hint of buzz or noise as has been reported. I think that with clean power and decent cables that might not be a problem. Still, I suspect there are some variations between units as the under components seem fairly pedestrian. Overall I don’t think you’ll find a better sounding amp at this price point. Highly recommend this amp.David

Overall, I?m pleased with this product based on the price point. I?m using this in my medium sized living room for playing records and Bluetooth via iPhone. Playing through pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers. Turntable is a Dual 510 With a Bellari VP549 phono amp. The built in phono amp In the mono price hybrid amp is not much to be desired (it?s terrible actually) so I?m using the Bellari phono amp and am pretty happy with this setup.Nate

After seeing one of the reviews saying that it sounded like playing through a transistor radio, I was a little hesitant. I keep my MIM strat in my office at work so that I can squeeze in a bit of occasional practice, so I wanted something small, headphone friendly, and able to plug an MP3 player into for backing tracks. I have to say I am really pleasantly surprised with this little thing. It uses a micro SD card to store MP3's, or you can plug in a player as an aux input, and the guitar and MP3 volume have independent controls. The distortion setting is all-or-nothing, but using the clean setting with the volume cranked up on the guitar produces some drive. The speaker is dinky but sounds better than I expected, and it's not bad through headphones, which is what I typically use since I have this at work. It also has 4 different equalizer settings to shift around the base, treble, and mid-range. Experimenting with the different settings can really improve the sound quite a bit, particularly when boosting the base, which the speaker seems to handle better than expected. Here are a few other observations: 1. You can only mix the guitar input with the auxiliary input when recording, and not with music stored on the SD card. In other words, you can play along with MP3, WAVs, or WMAs on the SD card, but you can't record with them (probably because it can't read and write to the SD simultaneously), but you can record together with an MP3 player plugged into the AUX jack and/or a microphone plugged into the MIC jack. 2. The guitar recording is really not bad at all. It is certainly not production-quality, but for tracking my own progress or to share informally I think it's usable. 3. When recording the guitar input together MP3s played from my Android phone using the AUX input, I had a hard time getting enough volume out of the MP3, although the guitar sounded pretty good. It may work better with other devices, but the best recording approach is probably to record the guitar alone, and then mix in the jam track on a computer. The USB interface supports charging the amp's internal battery and using the amp as an external powered speaker for the computer. Although it's not mentioned in the manual (which is well-written in grammatically correct English), when it is plugged into the PC you can also access the SD memory via the USB for immediate access to the recordings, or to copy backing tracks to it. On the back it has a belt clip, that detaches and can be inserted into the lower part of the amp, turning it into a tilt stand (and making it much easier to use). I pretty much got it so I could practice with headphones and backing tracks, but it is definitely workable for quick recording and overall I am fairly happy with it. As one of the reviewers posted, it is probably great to bring along when checking out a guitar when an amp isn't available, for travel, or as a headphone amp. PROS: Great set of features: SD card MP3 storage, recording, equalizer, several tone possibilities, USB access CONS: A little light and unstable when propped up on it's stand, sound is a little bit tinny, recording single source is good, but quality drops when recording guitar together with backing track.Elio

Pros; – compact and light: fits easily into my guitar case – good battery life (so far have played for an hour or two and have not needed to charge it) – good for quiet practice Cons: – Sound quality of guitar amp function is not great. With my electric guitar plugged in, there is distortion at all amp settings unless I turn the guitar volume way down. The "tone control" knob does not seem to do much of anything. So there should be a better input gain control. Sound quality of the mp3 playback function is fine. The sound of the guitar function is ok for practice but definitely not likely to inspire anyone. – I am not sure if 5W is an accurate power output figure. It does not seem to get that loud. But that is not a major problem because if I wanted a loud sound, I would plug into a real amp. – Other reviews mention the clip broke. I see how this could happen, but I have been careful and no problems so far. Overall, this is good for the price, so 4 stars.D A

I love bicycling and instruments. Here's something musical and sound lovers on tour might use while traveling with their MP3 player listening to a audiobook, music, poetry, radio, PHONE -or- typing out their daily PC email cycling journal while listening to something pleasant -or- RECORDING narrated touring thoughts, sounds and acquaintances -or- playing a preferred musical INSTRUMENT or microphone amplified along the cycle trail road side, park or camp. It could be used on the premises of a B&B rooming house, continental hotel, motel, cafe or guest room and landscape. Its a small 9 ounce speaker with a built in 5 Watt amplifier and recorder powered by a internal rechargeable battery fitted inside a small box that is connected with a cable to a sound activating device or plug in a microSD memory card. 5-Watt Guitar Amplifier, Portable Recorder, and USB Audio Interface http://www.monoprice.com/Product/?c_id=115&cp_id=11501&cs_id=1150102&p_id=611700 Paid $37.37 for it including shipping. Has a 30 day money back offer but I'm satisfied. Arrived by USPS in three days (Fri-Mon) and has a nice clear sound from low to high range tones but no deep subwoofer response. I like it and it sounds much like my compared to 12" speaker amp but not as loud or heavy. While listening to it plugged into the PC it charged the battery at the same time. With the volume cranked up all the way its loud and distorts. After a couple weeks of use the distortion seems to be going away at maximum volume. Checked battery duration and the amps internal battery lasted 18 plus hours at room temperature listening to mp3 music files copied to my microSDHC memory card (can use up to 32 GB) from my PC computer. My old USB wall charger (not included) took 2 hours to charge the battery and the PC cable connection (included) less then 2 hours. While my USB wall charger was working I could listen to the mp3 files play or unplug the microSD card for quieter charging or check to see if the battery is fully charged. Wish I could shuffle the mp3 files and see what's playing for future reference. There's two heavy plastic loops on back for a strap (not included) to attach to the bicycle or person which I haven't figured out yet how I'll use it for myself. Love the plastic belt clip which converts to a stand for the speaker on my PC tray, chair or ground. For waterproofing I slip it into a one gallon zip lock plastic freezer bag. Didn't care much for the mini lapel microphones bought elsewhere all though they work close to one's lips. Still looking for a microphone to record water, storms, birds and other wildlife while bicycle touring. Well that's about it. I won't be returning this multi-use product because its well worth it to me to have while bicycle touring, around home and instrument playing wherever. PROS: Many uses CONS: Wish I could see which mp3 file was playing.Mark

I bought this amp based on the good print reviews and the way it sounded in you Tube reviews. I did a lot of homework and finally placed my order. I was excited when it showed up at my house and plugged my Jay Turser Les Paul copy right in. Boy, is this thing dark! I turned all the tone controls to 10. I changed the strings. I removed the covers from my pickups- that just made it dark and tinny. After three days I decided that I had to either send it back or make some changes. I took the speaker from a Squier 15 amp and installed it in the Bugera. Right away there was more life and clarity to the sound, though it still sounded tinny (because it's a speaker from a Squier 15), but it was some progress. Next I pulled tubes from a circa 1959 Curtis-Mathes console stereo and swapped them into the Bugera. Now we were getting somewhere- the overtones, the reason we use tubes, were now present and accounted for. The same console is full of Oxford speakers, which are a Jensen knockoff and well respected. I took an 8" from that and installed it in the V5. OH YEAH! Now this is a great little amp. The clean tones are super sweet, clear, full and bell-like with tons of sustain. The overdrive has a huge range of grit, and the reverb is better than any other amp I've had. So after installing a set of +/- 60 year old tubes and speaker, it sounds great. But out-of-the-box stock, I would have sent it back, no question. If you have a too-bright guitar or are willing to make upgrades, this amp is a super value. My one complaint about build quality is that the wattage selector switch is extremely touchy- it goes from .1 to 5 watts and has to be fiddled with to get it to stay on the 1 watt setting.Farmhand

Perfect at home tube amp. I generally use 1 watt mode. Great tone whether clean or breakup. Loves my telecaster and Boss BD-2 into it, and takes pedals great in general. Couldn’t get over how nice it looked when I unboxed mine, either. Beautiful looking amp on top of sounding great. Really an incredible value. Can’t recommend this one enough if you’re looking for a home use valve amp.Grandaddy Jeff

Great sounding clean tones for playing at home, which is why i bought it – my beloved Mustang 1.1 started having issues and I MUST have a great clean tone to relax. Wanted a tube amp and did my research. Decided on the Blackstar. I must say I'm extremely happy with it. The reverb is KILLER to my ear and does a great job at adding shimmer without destroying the tone. No external effects are needed to get a gorgeous clean tone – I use my Zoom G3Xn into the front end to get univibe and compression. The effects loop is very functional. The amp can be very bass heavy, depending on your instrument, but if you run a 10 band EQ (go with MXR) in the loop you amp can achieve any tonal result you want. My best sound comes with everything at 12, with some of the bass rolled off with the MXR EQ – but its just a matter of taste i guess. This amp moves a lot of air when you use the drive channel, and if your not pleased with the amps distortion it does respond really well to distortion pedals. I'm mostly in the clean blues zone but must brag on the amps darker side: it can get very loud and stay rich. I haven't tried any of the direct recording features. The 2 selectable characters of clean that the amp offers thrill me and ,again, the reverb is classy and a bit different from other amps ( I read that is a room reverb). Highly recommended.Tim H.

This amp out of the box sounds fantastic. Crystal clear clean tones and a snarly gain channel that lets you choose between a more American gain tone and a British gain tone. I would say ‘cater for everyone’. But, I received my first amp and within an hour of playing I’d noticed a loud ‘POP’ when changing channels. This pop occurred if a note was being played at the same time as the channel change. (Footswitch and Amp buttons) So, of course I returned the Amp to PMT. they arranged DPD next working day collection for me, completely hassle free. I awaited my next amp, as a direct replacement. A few days later the next Blackstar HT-5R mkii arrived, box fresh like the last. I plugged the amp in, let the tubes warm and away I went. Within minutes of found a great tone again, but the loud ‘POP’ I heard from the first unit was there again on this amp. I tried 4 sockets in the house in case there was any kind of interference/static, but to no avail. Absolutely gutted, I called PMT again. The amp was returned for the second time. Apparently this hasn’t happened to anyone else, I may just be unlucky or the amp may not get along with the electrics in my home. Just check this out as soon as you buy one. I’ve tried two other valve amps on my house since, including a Blackstar Artist 10 AE and an Orange terror with cab, and there’s absolutely zero noise with these. Very important to note here, this is not a slam of PMT, they’ve been absolutely brilliant throughout this whole thing. Customer service is second to none and they are very easy to contact. Used these for a very long time and I will be returning once stores open to try out a new amp.Jack H.

So, it's been a year and about 3 months since I purchased this amp; and the only thing I can say is that this monster is awesome. It's paired with my McIntosh MC 352 as part of my (7-channel) Home Theater system. This amp is wonderful; it's clear, great on the high end and produces some solid lows. I was hesitant about the brand versus the Mac but my doubts have been dismissed. Used it as my 2-channel listening setup while my Mac was being serviced and I was impressed. Great amp; no regrets a year later.New User

I don't say this lightly. Audiophiles are a peculiar bunch. This amplifier is amazing, is made in America, and unequivocally rivals silicon-based audiophile amplifiers costing 3X to 5X more. This amplifier opens up music in a way I didn't think an amplifier would or could. Suddenly I can hear detail in a way that only headroom from power on demand can produce. My source material is nothing exotic, MP3s encoded at whatever bit-rate, but even with such mundane digital sources the music comes alive. I know such platitudes are commonly used, but if you have good ears and you normally use the amplifier built in to your AVR, you'll hear the difference immediately. This amplifier is simply amazing and an unbelievable bargain. This amplifier is VERY heavy (I had to get new audio equipment furniture to accommodate its weight), but does not get very hot (I put a digital optical thermometer on the case and transistors directly while cranking it), suggesting high efficiency. This amplifier literally draws as much power from the wall as electrically possible. Most amplifier specifications lie. The way you can tell is to calculate the power output capacity from the AC draw. Compare your amplifier's rated AC input draw vs. power amplification claims. Your normal 3-prong AC socket is rated for 15 amps. Most US AC is 120 volts. Thus the absolute maximum you can draw from the wall is 1800 watts. No amplifier is 100% efficient. This amplifier requires the circuit be dedicated to it. It wants the full 1800 watts. Add up the power output per channel multiplied by the number of channels multiplied by the amplifier's efficiency (typically between 50% and 85%) and you get the maximum possible RMS power amp output to the speakers. Amplifiers can briefly peak above their rated power input by drawing power from their built-in capacitors, but these peaks are very transitory and driving to these levels consistently will very quickly cause at a minimum in a well designed amplifier a blown fuse, but more typically audio clipping, and at worst equipment failure. I don't want this to be about me, but I have extensive audio background, having run a professional recording studio for years with equipment costing 100's of thousands, and am a professional musician and home theater enthusiast for decades. This amplifier is a bargain in a way that makes AVRs built-in amplification capabilities insulting. I'm not sure how much is widely known about this amplifier, but if you knew who the source manufacturer is (I do), you would agree. This amplifier puts more expensive and well known brand names to shame. Those other amp's are simply not competitive with this Monolith in engineering, sound quality, features, warranty, or price.Brian

I wasn't expecting the heavens to open up and for angels to sing to me when I powered up and played music through this amplifier. I mean, all an amplifier does is make something louder, right? What sort of audio revelation could possibly occur? I've got a pretty high-end Yamaha AVR. Surely it's amplifiers are pretty good. I was partially right, and partially wrong. The "make the sound louder" part I got right. The part I got wrong, and am darn happy about it, is that utilizing a good quality amplifier DOES make a big difference. I figured the hefty weight of the amplifier was just a trick meant to fool consumers into thinking they were getting something substantial, significant. As it turns out there IS a reason audio equipment engineers use certain components and some of them weigh a bunch. Wrestling a 93 lb amplifier into place & hooking it up is no small feat. It isn't squirrelly like balancing a folding chair or a fussy child, it's just plain HEAVY. The weight is mostly the dual toroidal transformers, although the amplifier IS built like a tank. When putting it in my rack I was afraid I'd scratch my shiny new amp (as shiny as jet black can be). I didn't. I think everything else was at risk from the amp, not vice versa. Hookup was darn simple, but take note of a couple of things: 1st is the RCA vs. XLR switch. It's small, unobtrusive, and easy to miss. I did. That lasted a hot second of pondering why sound didn't come out until I switched it to match what I was using for inputs. 2nd is there are two power switches: one on the back of the unit (SUPER handy since I, and probably most, turn the amp on via trigger from something else) and the one on the front panel in the form a largish button that glows blue when the amplifier is operating. Music I've listened to ad nauseum for years suddenly has a new sonic appeal to my ears. I'm not sure why the channels are labeled the same way as you'd label speaker connections: front, right, center, left surround, etc. other than convention. The audio decoding is done by whatever source you're using. The amplifier just makes that a lot louder. Since each amplifier essentially lacks as its own independent channel they could have just numbered them from 1 to 7 and let you plug whatever into whatever. That makes sense to me. I suspect what makes sense to me would confuse the masses, although I would think people that are going to buy such a capable and ample amp are intellectually a notch above your average stereo/AVR buyer. I've long had a discussion with a friend about whether it makes sense to upgrade audio gear. My thought being that each component can only detract from the sound, like panes of glass. My friend's being that the digitized source material using lossy CODECs, like the omnipresent MP3 format, is so inherently flawed it makes no difference what sort of electronics you throw at it. He's wrong. I'm right. Again. Buy one of these things if you like music and your budget and muscles can handle it. I have been very pleasantly surprised. Wait, a minute, what was that sound? I think I just heard heavenly trumpets with accompanying vocals. Could just be my imagination.Brian

Because the Stage Right 5-watt tube amp (#611705) has control knobs only for Volume and Tone, I found that I get the best-to-my-ears guitar sound when I put an equalizer pedal between the guitar and amp and then adjust the equalizer to the tone that I'm looking for. On the guitar the Volume and Tone knobs are set fully open and on the 5-watt tube amp the Tone knob is fully closed and the Volume knob is set to the volume level acceptable to the environment (for home practice the Volume knob is set to level 3 at full 5-watts). The Stage Right 5-watt tube amp is my first tube amp after having used modeling amps for at least five years. I had heard that tube amps more often than not sound better than modeling amps. After now having experienced using a tube amp I agree that tube amps (at least the Stage Right 5-watt amp) sounds better than the modeling amps I've used (which to me sound great too). If you're looking for your first tube amp (like I was) or you are looking for a low-watt tube amp for home use then I highly recommend the Monoprice Stage Right 5-watt tube amp #611705. Review about Monoprice customer support: The 5-watt tube amp that I initially received had a cosmetic defect (a hole) on the textured surface on the front side of the amp. The Volume knob when set to fully opened level 10 produced normal speaking level sound instead of the noise-complaint loud volume that I expected. Monoprice customer service was great and easy to work with in submitting an amp replacement request. I described the problems, sent pictures of the cosmetic defect and a video demonstrating the Volume problem. After Monoprice customer service reviewed the pics and video they sent me a free shipping return label, a RMA label, and they ordered me a replacement amp which arrived within 7 days after I submitted the replacement request. The replacement amp that I received had no cosmetic defects and the Volume knob set to max level 10 is loud enough to generate noise-complaints from neighbors, though I normally use the amp at Volume level 3 for home use.New User

For the price (I got it when priced $119) it is fantastic. It's simple, straightforward and sounds good. Nice warm tones. If you're a fantastic guitar player, this amp will sound fantastic. If you're an okay guitarist, you might want to invest in some pedals (or just keep practicing). I only say that because it is very clean and bright and it really shows off what you're playing. (I've been known to hide my sloppiness with reverb, distortion, etc.) BUT It does take pedals well – thankfully! Adding a good reverb pedal, delay and an overdrive to go along with this little guy is a good idea. The Pros: Value to Price ratio. Looks well built. Warm tube sound. The handle (yes I am talking about the amp's handle) is nice! Better than I expected. In fact, everything looks pretty good (except the cheap control knobs). 5 watts is plenty loud for home/recording use. The Cons: Good sounding, but there are better sounding. Please don't buy this thinking that this is a $500 amp. It is not. But sub $200 it is a good one. The chickenhead knobs are cheap looking. I took them off and painted them. But that's a dollar or two easy fix (if it bothers you at all). Overall: I totally recommend for $150 or less. Probably for $200. If the prices climb too much beyond that, I think there are other options. If you want to jam at home and record with it, I think you'll be happy.Brad

The Monoprice 5 watt guitar amp arrived just a few days after ordering, and arrived in good shape, due in part to the excellent shipping carton. Upon taking it out and inspecting it, I could find no flaws in the cabinet, and due to the cream color of the covering, it seemed a little bigger than I was expecting. I plugged it in, let it warm up for almost an hour, and then plugged in an ES339, using no pedals. At first, I wasn't all that pleased with the sound I was getting, but it was my fault. I had it adjusted as I do with my Albion Hybrid, but that wasn't the way. I found the best sound came from turning the Monoprice all the way up, and then use the guitar controls for volume instead. That did it, and the little amp came a alive in a big way! Sounding very similar to a Fender champ, it could go from nice clear tones to crunchy heaven with the ES339's humbuckers. I plugged in a Strat with an HSH configuration, and the single coil really made it sound Fenderish. Sweet. The only thing I found one might improve on the amp, is the speaker. As such, I plugged into the built-in external speaker jack on the back, a little Randall 8" cabinet. That really did it for me. The sound was fantastic through the entire spectrum, and was loud enough to be heard down the block. I then bi-amped it with the Albion, and the sound had all the creamy goodness I've been seeking, and that is how I now have it setup for daily use. That said, there's nothing wrong with the stock speaker on the Monoprice, and I suspect it will satisfy most users. Am very happy with this purchase, and glad I bought it for such a great price. Almost every electric guitar player could find a use for this amp. Buy before the price goes up, or they quit making them!T

I was skeptical of trying this 5 watt head out, but it really does perform. With the ISF and EQ, you can really dial in the sound you are looking for, it may take some time…but it is there. How loud is this thing? I'm running it through my Mesa 2×12 cab and I rarely put it past halfway on the volume. Perhaps the most shocking thing to me about this head is how well the low notes sound, especially when palm muting. The clean channel isn't to be overlooked, it sounds amazing, and the Reverb does as well. If you are into playing virtually any genre of Metal, I'd highly recommend this 5 watt amp. I'm actually thinking of selling my 50 watt EVH head because this thing surpassed my expectations.Craig

I am a gear hog and I love trying out amps and pedals. I am a big fan of Blackstar, especially my HT-50. I've been pondering getting the Metal head for some time, but the larger version was just too much for home studio use (my intended purpose) – when I saw the price on these, I went for it and I love it. The flexibility and range of the EQ is generous and lets you dial in precise tones. Working the gain and volume together offers such a spectrum of sounds and feels (crystal clean to super metal), and when you add in the OD select, you have a real powerhouse of options. My only concern was, how much could a 1 watt amp really push? Not to be worried! I played this through both a Marshall 1960A and a Blackstar HTV412 and it sounded great. You are not going to be able to rock an arena (maybe a 20 seat arena!) but for practice, home studio, or small gig purposes, it is plenty enough. Besides, it's metal, it's Blackstar and it's cute! Wait, can you say it's cute 'and' metal? If you are considering getting one, get it before they are gone, gone, gone.egwanaboy

Perfect for metal all any kind of music, Brutal,nice crispy tube sound on both channel( clean and overdrive). Five star product and excellent value and price.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I need an amp to use at low volumes, often with headphones. I don't need high gain, just enough to warm it up. I use gain and modulation pedals through the loop. The Nano ticks all the boxes for me. I may order one of the other models for tonal variety. Really a great product! Very happy with Sam Ash fulfillment and service.Woody

WOW!! This little amp is amazing for what it is, I have plugged it into a bunch of different speakers and it sounds great, and so portable. Great price too. Thinking about getting another.wonkywookie01

I purchased this little amp because I needed to play quietly in my apartment and every amp I own is too loud and doesn't sound good played at low levels. The Hotone really works!. I paired it with a Randall 8 inch speaker and it sounds surprisingly good.Steven