Feature:
The features list is fine, but it's all sort of pointless since none of the features help you get any useable sound. No effects loop, no footswitch, but at the price those *would* be going above and beyond.
Quality:
It's light and easy to carry, but mine has been unreliable. Sometimes it won't work at all for several months at a time, then will mysteriously work fine. It sometimes hums or buzzes and when I power it on it will often thump loudly--sometimes startlingly, though fortunately no speaker damage yet. All plastics look and feel cheap. The power cord is heavy duty and grounded.
Value:
There are better inexpensive practice amps out there--even a few tube powered ones at or under the price that will naturally beat the 158 quite handily.
Desirability:
Nothing special to look at and not kind on the ears either.
Sound:
Poor tone overall, anemic, cardboardy, lifeless, no string definition, reverb is useless, headphone out sounds so bad it's useless, EQs are so-so, the more gain you dial in, the buzzier and more annoying it gets. Modern vintage switch would be a nice touch but it doesn't make this amp sound any better. Good tube effects ahead of it don't help it much. Some gear is "so bad it's cool" but this amp isn't even a good special effect. I'm not expecting anything special out of a $100 practice amp but even at the price, you can do better.
Ease of Use:
Well, the switch and knob layout makes sense, nothing complicated, really, but the ergonomics are poor--when I go to switch channels, for example, I always bump one of the knobs next to the channel switch and since the switches are light cheap plastic on cheap pots, they will easily fly out of where you set them. I do, however, appreciate that the controls are mounted on the front of the amp where you can get to them fairly easily even if the amp is tilted back.
Support:
Haven't dealt with them.
Overall:
Overall it's one of the worst amps I've heard or played through. My guitars are currently a 1965 Fender Mustang, a Japanese Fender Jazzmaster, and a modified Schecter. I also have an Alvarez solid wood a/e and a Martin D35 for what it's worth. I got the amp when I first started playing electric about 6 years ago. I never could coax any particularly useable tone from it so I don't really use it and there's no resale value to make it worth selling. I wouln't recommend it for a beginner--you want to learn on better sounding gear, believe me! I'd be a better player now if I'd started with better gear.
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!