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Sound:
I purchased this after I tested it out at a local guitar shop. It's a Marshall, no question. The clean headroom is great and when it breaks up you get classic, crunchy, Marshall tone. 15W is a lot of power for home use. It should do fine at small gigs and you can always mic it if you need some help. The head is missing an effect loop but does great with pedals in front of it. Zzounds gave me the best price so they got my order. It shipped fast and came very well packaged from Marshall.
Feature:
Most of the features I wanted were built in the head. A clean and dirty channel, low\mid\hi dials, med-low wattage, classic Marshall sound. The effects work fine and offer a true bypass mode that is built in. I use pedals in front of the head vs the built in effects so please try them first if they are important to you. An effect loop would have been nice, and possibly even a 7W\15W switch allowing for a lower power setting. Dirty chan works great but I run clean+pedals instead. For those w\o pedals already, crank the gain and you'll have some fun for sure! The included foot switch works fine and a long cable is included so you can use it straight away.
Ease of Use:
The head is very basic with fewer jacks and knobs than it's big brothers. I'm sure any novice would be able to get this unit connected etc. within minutes. There is a small booklet that comes with the head just-in-case...
Quality:
No issues with anything so far. It's only been in service for a month and all is working like it should be. I broke it in a bit the first few weeks and dimed it the third week. No rattles or other issues noted. There's also a 5 year warranty as long as you register so if you have quality issues I'm sure Marshall will take care of you. Tolex, rubber feet, handles, jacks, are all fastened well and put together to make up a great overall package.
Value:
I have tried quite a few combo and head+cabinet configurations. All the ones I no longer have were nice, and functional - just not this nice. You get what you pay for. $900 for a 15W head and speakers is a lot, but if you don't have room for a 4x12, you don't want a combo amp, and you want that Marshall sound, you'll be happy with your purchase.
Manufacturer Support:
No calls to support, but I did email them and still have not received a response. The literature, online description, and even the sales staff at Zzounds had no idea if this unit shipped with speaker cables. Just so you know, they are included and work fine. No need to spend another $20-$40 on additional cables to plug in the cabinets with. I marked Marshall down on this simply for their lack of response. I only sent one email and had the package arrive answering all my questions. They should make it policy to reply to all incoming inquiries - it's just good business.
The Wow Factor:
This stack not only sounds good, but it looks great. I'm far from a professional, but the gear is pro ready. It's about 1/2 the width of a standard 4x12 cab, and a good foot shorter than a normal full stack. It may not get you the ladies, but it should bring peace of mind that you bought some kick ass, high-quality gear. It's very classic in appearance and is true to the photos online.
Overall:
I believe I will own this stack until I die. I don't aspire to be a pro and go on the road, and I doubt I'll ever have a practice room this unit can't fill with sound. If I need something else I'll buy it, but I wont sell or trade this off to get the new gear. Great job Marshall, my search for my perfect amp is over!
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Overall:
I highly recommend this amp and mini-stack. You've got to turn it up a bit to get the optimal tone but you'll be amazed at how authentic the Marshall tones are that come out of this amp.
This is the real deal, real Marshall rock sound, in a 15 watt, mini head. Crank this amp up and you've got instant vintage Marshall sound. The clean channel is one of the nicest, rich clean tones I've heard in any amp. Crank the clean channel and add an Overdrive or Distortion pedal and it comes to life. You can go from the bright clean tones to metal shred in this channel alone. It needs to be turned up a bit before the pedals really sound great but once you're there, it's great. The overdrive channel is pure classic 70's Marshall. Great crunch tones and singing sustain. Gary Moore tones are there with ease. It doesn't have quite the gain of the modern JVM type Marshalls but if you need to push the high gain envelope, it responds great to an overdrive or clean boost pedal (like the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster that I use). The effects are superb as well. You are able to turn them off and take them out of the signal path if you want but this is one of the features here that sets this amp apart from the other mini heads. The reverb is very lush and full. The chorus/vibe/delay effect is as good as it gets. Dial in the Vibe and you've got the perfect Robin Trower tone. Each channel remembers the effects settings and maintains them as you switch back and forth. Add the chorus to the clean channel and it's amazing. I've had guys in the guitar store stop to look at what amp sounded so nice. Put the delay on and you've got the perfect solo set up. The other mini amp heads just can't compare. This gives you a LOUD 15 watts of power, multiple speaker options, 2 channels and reverb, delay, chorus and vibe - all foot switch controllable. The speaker cabs are perfect for the amp. They look and sound like their big brother Marshall cabs. Either version (slant or straight) produces a good amount of low end and punch your tone thru the mix without being overly mid-rangey. Both speaker cabs have a slightly different sound due to the speaker configuration and the fact that the base (straight) cab is a bit deeper.
The amp seems to be very well made. It looks and feels like any made in England Marshall. Mine is a year old and is operating flawlessly. Cabinets are solid and have nice side handles that made carrying them easy. Again, this is the best small amp value out there. It has a very versatile tone, reverb and effects, 2 channels, ripping loud 15 watts and gig ready tone and volume I've played gigs with a 6 piece band using this head. Either through it's own Marshall half stack speaker or a 2x12 cab -- it's superb.
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