New Amp Day

[Mr Grumpy]

I was looking around the local guitar shops and saw a couple of amps of interest at good prices:

For US$225 I thought this VOX would give me the sounds I like with some OD/Fuzz going into it.



Then I saw this for US$218, and thought it has a clean channel that I can put pedals into, and I'd probably like the lower gain metal channel too. It also has a reverb, is lighter and maybe a better option (although I'd probably prefer the VOX sound).




I was out drinking with a mate last night, and he was saying that he is writing some songs with his accoustic, but he has limited range with the smallish Guild (actually, I sold it to him - a really nice parlour type guitar). I suggested he borrow my Loar Brownstone because it has a very different sound signature. I also started chatting about amps, and he mentioned that I gave him an amp a few years ago, but he never uses it because he only plays acoustic nowadays. I'd forgotten about the amp, but picked it up and brought it home...

I never much liked the amp a few years back, but now I'm really looking forward to looking at it again - it's just a solid state, quite feature rich, so it should give me some fun and different sounds... I would say it's free, but I paid for it new a few years ago...

I also seem to remember a few of you fellas liking this amp, so I'm optimistic.

I've no work this week, so can give it a good seeing to! :dood:



It can be strange how things/equipment comes back to you. Effectively, I'm getting a new amp, hardly used, without spending any $$$.

 

[Session 5]

Congrats Grump! on getting the Marshall back. Was not my decision to make, but if it was would have been the Blackstar over Marshall and Vox. I hope you find what you are looking for out of it..

 

[gball]

Very cool. I am a fan of the MG series - they sound very very good for what they are and the effects are surprisingly similar to outboard pedals.

 

[Mitch Pearrow SJMP]

Congrats on getting the MG30 back
I had one for a bit of time, but it got loaned out to never come back, and I agree with @gball the amps FX are quite pleasing.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks, Gents.

It seems just fine for noodling around and having some options; so far, so good. :dood:

 

[fitz]

HNA(again)D!
I had an MG15 with the same functions - the little carbon fiber micro stack version.
4 channels like the big DSL's and some built in effects.
The MG 4-button foot controller is nice if you don't have one with it.
Some speaker upgrades was a major improvement over the 10" stock speakers.
Skip the presets and just set the amp to manual.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Congrats on the return to Marshall. Hope you likr it!
Are the older MGs without the presets decent sounding?
My cohort in Whiplash needs a smaller amp/ backup and general consensus was that the OD channel was pretty gross on the older MGs?
There is a used one around here for sale. I thought he should look at a pedal amp or even a Katana instead.
Dunno.
Thoughts?

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Some speaker upgrades was a major improvement over the 10" stock speakers.

Yeah, I agree. The amp is very average indeed - it desperately needs a new speaker. I might be able to get a cheap used 10" greenback; I just need to open the back up and see how easy it is to change.

There is a used one around here for sale. I thought he should look at a pedal amp or even a Katana instead.
Dunno.
Thoughts?

I don't have much time for the MG30 to be honest - they are cheap, but noisy and hard to find a good sound. My Yamaha THR10 does a much better Marshall sound and has much better effects too (although, that's a more expensive amp).

I've had Marshall DSL 5 and Origin 20 which are fantastic but loud for home use. I've also had a Bugera 5w and Randall 1w tube amp which were not too expensive, but far better than the MG30. I've also had a VOX pathfinder 10 and a Randall KH15 which are both cheap solid state amps and far far better than the MG30.

Maybe this MG30 has a problem? It's not a good amp, imho. I'm going to give it another week and try to find some sweet spots. A new speaker would help, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money/effort on an amp I don't like...

I read back through my original posting on this amp a few years ago, and I gave it a poor rating. I'm hoping I can find some more positives and make it work for me. I suspect for band practice the general noise levels and average sounds would be fine/good, but for home use looking for nice sounding tones, meh... Just my opinion, my ears, this example of the amp - other folks really like them, so I'm not being definitive here...

 

[Session 5]

I know this is a smaller amp , I once had a Marshall 15FX. I didn't like the tones at all, it sounded cheap, I sold it. Was not impressed. For small practice amps in SS Orange and Blackstar have better choices IMHO.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I just looked at the back, and it has a 4 ohm speaker. Thus, if I could find a cheap 8 ohm 10" speaker then it should work fine and help the amp sound a lot better (the amp is 70w, so just for home use I won't need anything like that power); would a 16 ohm be too much of a mismatch?.

It seems to be a common problem with low cost Marshalls (not only Marshalls...) that the basic speaker isn't good and benefits hugely from an upgrade.





It might be worth a speaker upgrade if I can find one at a decent price.

 

[mcblink]

Score!

 

[67plexi]

To be honest a speaker wont help it is what it is and if you put a 8 ohm speaker on a 4 ohm load it will cut your volume in half

 

[Mr Grumpy]

To be honest a speaker wont help it is what it is and if you put a 8 ohm speaker on a 4 ohm load it will cut your volume in half

Yeah, I know the volume will drop loads - and that's fine. I can play it on 2 or 3 at the moment, so I have loads of air to play with.

I went on some Marshall forums, and some folks have changed the speaker, expressing significant improvement. I do understand your point - it's just a basic amp which is fundamentally limited; I agree. But, Marshall put very average (and poor, imho) in many of their more affordable amps thus a simple speaker swap can make a difference. On this amp, I'd only do so if I can find an affordable speaker because a new speaker would be worth more than the amp.

Just for my own interest, I might borrow a speaker from a friend to see the difference.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Right, I've provisionally agreed 20,000 won, which is US$15.20, for a Mesa Boogie Black Shadow 10". I suspect this isn't a particularly great speaker, but should be an upgrade at a low cost. It's 8ohm 50w, so if it gives about 25w of solid state that'd be fine for low volume home practice.

I'll report back. If nothing else, it'll be an interesting little experiment...

 

[fitz]

I just looked at the back, and it has a 4 ohm speaker. Thus, if I could find a cheap 8 ohm 10" speaker then it should work fine and help the amp sound a lot better (the amp is 70w, so just for home use I won't need anything like that power); would a 16 ohm be too much of a mismatch?.

It seems to be a common problem with low cost Marshalls (not only Marshalls...) that the basic speaker isn't good and benefits hugely from an upgrade.

View attachment 89719

View attachment 89720

It might be worth a speaker upgrade if I can find one at a decent price.

Higher speaker ohms on a SS amp will just lower the output watts.
There's some kinda electro-mathematical-calculometry here that I don't understand, but I'm aware of the approximate results.
Going from 30w @ 4 ohm to 8 ohm will reduce the output to about 21w.
16 ohm would be about 15w.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

A little report back on the speaker swap:



As mentioned above, the speaker cost me US$15, so cheap to replace. It was much heavier with a much stronger magnet than the speaker I took out.

It is an improvement in a few ways. It doesn't change the amp into a DSL5 or Origin20, but it does give me a more usable amp. I've found the settings below as my favourite:



The clean channel doesn't get dirty, but with the gain set at the maximum point before it gets fizzy, and the master volume on its maximum point before it gets fizzy - there's a soft crunch which is good for blues, but more importantly a good pedal base.

I find the amp very bright and quite lightweight on the clean channel, so bass on max, the mids down a tad, treble middling and a touch of spring reverb - the sound thickens pleasantly with bite when you hit the strings harder. All this on a low volume not to upset the neighbours; upping the volume improves the sound, but becomes increasingly too loud for home use; if you put the volume on three quarters then this amp would be nice for band practice. The speaker swap has just given a crisper and more tuneful clean sound while (being an 8 ohm speaker while the original was 4 ohm) allowing the fuller crunch of the master volume up high.

With a muff pedal and/or OD pedal, I can get anything from classic 70s rock to punk, grunge and riot girl punk/"metal".

I've yet to find any sounds I like on the crunch or OD channels without the volume being too loud for home use because these channels are a lot louder and fizzier on low gain/volume settings. The trick to this amp (with this speaker) seems to be getting the wide-open master volume thickness first then working back with the other control knobs to find the sound you like at an acceptable volume.

I'm now happier with this amp then I've been at any other time, so that's a success. Nowhere near as nice as a DSL5 though, imho (gets closest when the master volume and volume are both beyond 3 o'clock, but it's too loud for home use at that point).