This awesome, 100 watt head will drive any cabinet from the Marshall range, but is best suited to the Celestion loaded MG412A (angled) and MG412B (straight) 120W 4x12" cabinets. Unbelievable tone, feel and projection come as standard.
Featured review by:
ollerom_mot, on december 22, 2004 12 of 13 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 384.3
Purchased from: Music Makers
Features: This head was made in 2003, and I have been using it with the recommended MG412 cabinet. I play in a metal band, and with plenty of fiddling round I found a nice tone that suited metal, but to satisfy my hunger for punk (Bad Religion, Pennywise) some adjusting made that sound pretty good too, even with my sub-standard guitar. It has 2 channels, clean and overdrive. On clean you can choose between clean and (bluesy) crunch, which I haven't found much use for, and on overdrive there are two different sub-channels also, OD1 and OD2. I found OD1 was a bit lame for my tastes and I normally have OD2 on the overdrive channel, and clean on the clean channel. There is a footswitch to change between the two channels. This head has jacks in the back for effects loops, and a headphone jack (for when I've been practising at home). For the effects built into the amp, it has another pedal on the footswitch to turn the effects on and off, but you can only have one effect on at a time without turning the knob. It has all the features that I could really ask for, apart from a footswitch that turns the reverb on and off would have been nice. I use this amp to practice at home (with headphones in), for band practices (max it ever goes up to is halfway), but have not had a gig since buying it, but 120 RMS pretty much assures me that it will be big enough for anywhere. // 8
Sound: I'm currently using a Squier Telecaster with this amp, but I feel that with this guitar I am not doing it any justice, but I can still get some decent sounds out of it that suit my metal, punk and classic rock needs. The amp is very versatile, and if you know how to use it, it could be anyone's best friend. The clean channel is gorgeous, it's the best clean tone I've heard on an amp in my entire life, I love it. The distortion isn't the best I've heard, but I have only heard it on my guitar, which is not very nice. However, I'm not saying the distortion is bad, it's brilliant, but I haven't found a tone that matches to the clean channels standard, and yes, you can shake your nextdoor neighbour's house with it. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I've had it for a few months now, and (possibly due to my paranoia of damaging it) it doesn't have a scratch on it. It also has a 3 year warranty on it, and the cabinet, too. Nothing has been damaged to it, I can see this amp lasting me for a long time. // 10
Impression: This amp is real good, especially for someone who needs volume and versatility (looks too, of course, but that doesn't really bother me). I have been playing for around 3 years now, but have owned very few (but played many) amps. Before this amp, I was playing through a 30w Nobels bass amp through a Danelectro Grilled Cheese Distortion pedal, and it sucked. So my bassist has inherited my pathetic bass amp and this one casts a large, dark shadow over it. If it were stolen/lost (although it's pretty hard to lose something this big), I would probably break down and cry, and complain for the next few months as I saved up for a new amp, which wouldn't be this one. I would probably buy a similar cabinet, but save up for a JCM series head instead, something more professional, or maybe just get a combo, depending on the way things with the band are going. The only bad thing about this amp is sometimes I feel I might have gone a little OTT, as it certainly isn't practical to lug the cabinet around, and it takes up a fair amount of space. Despite this though, I do not regret this purchase and all-round is a brilliant amp, but advise anyone who is considering buying it to seriously think if they truly require an amp of this size. // 10
Reviewed by:
mesaboogieman, on september 10, 2005 2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Mansons Guitars
Features: This is a fairly new amp from Marshall, I play mostly thrash metal but also some Led Zeppelin and blues. This amp has one channel for clean, and a channel for the overdrive, with which you get a choice between OD1 or OD2, OD1 is fairly weak and even with full gain is not worth using, it sounds like you've turned the volume knob right down leaving a little bit of sound to come through, but pushing the button into OD2 you get the full blown distortion that you would expect from the 4x12" speakers in the cab. It has an effects loop, CD in, headphone jack, footswitch comes with the amp, the footswich has only two buttons to press, one for the channel select, and one for the FX, a reverb selector would be good on footswitch, as the reverb sound on this amp is amazing, but obviously you don't want it there all the time, so I tend to play with very little of it. The effects on this amp are chorus/delay, not an effect I use alot, flanger, chorus and delay, all the effects are great but only when playing the right stuff, you can get an amazing sound from the chorus, you can also use the effects knob to adjust how much presence the effects has on your sound. This amp also has an FDD button, which tries to simulate the sound of a valve amp, it gives an amazing punch to the distortion and makes the clean sound alot brighter. // 8
Sound: The guitar I use is an Epiphone Les Paul, this guitar is great for pretty much any style of music, but quite weak to use in the bluesey areas, like Stevie Ray and Hendrix, in which case I use my Yamaha Pacifica, which sounds great on the clean, neck pickup. This amp is a bit too loud to just practise in your bedroom, so I suggest buying some headphones, if you try to play it quietly it just doesn't sound the same. I find the clean sound doesnt distort atall, unless you want it to, in which case you hit the clean crunch button included on the clean channel, again, I would prefer this to also be on the footswitch, all round I would say the only thing that let me down about this amp is the fact there are only two buttons on the footswitch. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I would use this amp without a backup because it's hard as anything, I got covers free with mine to protect and bumps to it. As in tube amps, neglect or accidents can lead to having to have it repaired costing money, and not too good if you have a gig coming up. I find with the solid states its alot more reliable. // 10
Impression: Like I said, I play Heavy and thrash metal, the heavy overdrive on the amp is great, it has an amazing Punch to the sound and really bassey sounding, which is what I like. The sound I could compare it to is songs by Iced Earth, one of my favourite bands, in songs like "Stand Alone" you can hear what kind of sound this amp can give you. I have been playing 4 years and this is my 4th amp, all of them marshalls, but none quite as big as this one, nor as loud! Theres no comparison when you turn the volume up and you hear those speakers working so well. This amp has served me well over the past 2 months and I expect it will be my amp for a few years to come, until I outgrow it. // 8
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on january 25, 2008 2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 913.17
Purchased from: Gloucester Soundhouse
Features: This solidstate amp is the stack version of the MG100DFX. The name says it all really. It's a 100 watts, with digital effects (delay, chorus, delay/chorus and flange). It has two channels, clean and overdrive. The clean channel has a Switch that allows you to change between clean and crunch, and the distortion has a button for changing between overdrive 1 and overdrive 2. As the names suggest, when you have the channels on either cruch or overdrive 2, it steps up the distrotion a bit. The two channels and the DFX are switchable using the footswitch that comes with it. This amp also has a CD in that can be used for playing backing tracks or just some of your favourite tunes; and a emulated line out and headphone jack for recording or playing some serious rock at 2 in the morning without pissing off the neighbours. It also comes with a spring reverb and a FDD (Frequency Dependent Damping). When the FDD switch is selected, it tightens up all the mids in your tone and makes your solid state amp sounds more like a valve amp, which rocks some serious ass. It also has a effects loop which is good if you have some effects pedals that you want in an effects loop. // 8
Sound: I play with a Epiphone Les Paul Standard which has Seymour Duncan pickups at the bridge and a Fender atomic humbucker for the neck pickup. I also play a Encore stratocaster which is cool for playing Van Halen and Steve Vai styled music because of the whammy bar. I also have a Boss gt8 effects pedal which is gopod when I have it set up in the 4 cable method. I play mostly classic rock (Aerosmith, Black Sabbath and Ozzy, AC/DC, Queen, Dire Straits, The Eagles, Hendrix and so on and so forth). The clean channel on cruch mode is great for doing hendrix or Eagles styled music with my stratocaster. The overdrive channel is suited for everything else. The clean channel is good for crisp country type music whilst the overdrive channel is great for solos.This amp has a lot of variety and it's well suited for most types or rock, from blues to classic to country. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This is Marshall amp. This thing is built like a tank and because it's a Marshall, I can count on it to not breakdown when I need it most. This is probably the only make of amp which I would gig with withoput a backup. I haven't had the amp long and it's only been in my room for about 3 weeks, but I can tell it would take a lot to break it. // 10
Impression: This amp is great for me, It allows me to have a diverse range of sounds at the flick of a Switch. The tone is brilliant, it's very reliable and I just love the look of the half stack with the slant cabinate in the courner. This amp is perfect for me and I'm sure that it's perfect for other people as well. // 8
Reviewed by:
Mark-O1987666, on january 27, 2006 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 567.3
Purchased from: Ebay
Features: I've only been playing guitar for just over a year and a half I think, anyways I was upgrading from my pathetic Fender FrontMan 15 or whatever you call it, and I saw this on Ebay, I thought 100watts would suffice for a while, whilst my band gets off it's ass. It's got 2 channels each with it's own distortion, plus the overdrive channel has a second mode of distortion, mainly for metal playing I guess. It has 4 built in effects too, chorus, delay, flange, and chorus/delay. This is a solidstate amp. // 8
Sound: OK, at the present I gots two guitars, my Jackson JS30DK Dinky; with Jackson CVR2 humbuckers, and my ESP LTS AX-50; soon with EMG 81's. I play ina metal type band, thrash/death metal style I'd say, so I mainly play with full distortion, and it sounds good for me, not absoloutely amazing, but good enough for some crushing riffs. However, if I want to play something a little less distorted, I can turn the second overdrive mode off for a pretty jazzy kind of distortion (not that, that gets used much). The clean channel sounds nice in conjunction with the flange effect, can write some nice tunes with those settings. I recently cracked this up to a quater of the max volume, and wow I was impressed, at firsrt I was expecting a horrible thumping kind of sound, but no, there was very little sound interference, this comes from the cabinet build quality though. I doubt even in a gig situation I'd need to pump this head higher than 25-50% of it's max. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I twatted this off the wall so many times when I was taking it up to my room, and it's still working fine, so I'd say it's pretty god damn durable. I'd trust it at a gig too, since its solidstate I wouldn't have to worry about valves burning out, only powerfailure or liquid spillage. // 10
Impression: I really like it, I can see myself keeping it for a long time to come, and if my band gets anywhere, I'll be gigging with for a long time, even when I can afford a JCM900. If it was stolen however, I'd probably fork out for the JCM. // 9
Reviewed by:
Ich_Bin_Ibanez, on august 18, 2006 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 199.99
Purchased from: Pawnshop
Features: The Marshall MG100HDFX head is a lot more versatile than I thought it was going to be, when I first purchased it. It is a 2 channel head that you can Switch between with a footswitch pedal. It has a headphone jack, and an input for a CD. It has a few effects that saved me the trouble of getting pedals. Like reverb, flange, and chorus. I play grunge/metal/hardcore/acoustic all kind of put together on this amp. And it is more than capable of doing this. It has more than enough power than what I know what to do with. Because if we end up playing shows I know people with full stacks that I can use. // 9
Sound: This amp suits my style a lot more than I thought it was going to. It's not as noisy as I thought it was going to be as the volume dial moved up. This amp can make some amazing sounds with very very clean pinch harmonics to an amazing of variety of divebombs. It is very smooth mellow sound when you need it to be and at other times it can be distorted and all up in your face. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I would depend on this amp. If I played a show I would carry this in with 100% confidence in it. It has been through some tough times. And it still plays fine and sounds just as good as the day it was bought. If this amp ever breaks down not due to neglect I will be really surprised even if it's in like 5 years. // 10
Impression: My overrall impression of this amp at first was sort of suprise. I was afraid to turn it up all the way thinking it was gonna freak out and make me deaf with feedback but it didn't. I have been playing for like 2 monthes and I own a Ibanez AEG10E with a Behringer hell-babe, and Boss Mega Distortion, and Boss Super Overdrive, I also use my friends Jackson Randy Rhoads with it. No matter what I have plugged into and what it's set to it keeps up with me. From stuff like Lamb Of God to Black Sabbath. // 10
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on december 19, 2005 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 366
Purchased from: gak
Features: The MG100HDFX one of the latest budget guitar amps from Marshall, Top of the line in its class. It comes complete with a footswitch for changing between the 2 channels and turning the onboard effects on and off. There are 2 channels, "clean" and "overdrive" and both have 2 modes, perfect if you don't have an effects chain. The "clean" modes are completely dry or mild (very Marshall sounding) distortion. This channel has a 3 band EQ and a gain knob. The "overdrive" modes are a lishter distortion or a very heavy distortion. This channel has a 3 band EQ, Gain, Contour and volume controls. The footswitch changes channels, not modes. This amp's got a wide range of holes to put cables into, including headphones (also "Emulated Line Out"), CD in (or line in) and Input (for your guitar) on the front. The back has an effects loop in and out, 2 outputs for speaker cabs, footswitch and power cable. You can adjust the level of the effects when you use the loop, but the loop takes away a lot of the sound that your effects give you, leaving you with a decayed sound (not in a good way) so I don't use it.
The onboard effects to choose from are pretty good though, Theres not many budget amps that come complete with chorus, flange, delay and reverb (theres also a chorus/delay mix option) and remember you can switch them on or off with your footswitch. There's a problem with the headphone jack (design flaw, not broken) in that you can't adjust the volume, but i never use it anyway. Great for first time stack buyers! // 9
Sound: I use a Gibson Les Paul Custom with standard Gibson pickups and loads of mainly boss pedals and it sounds great! It comes with that classic unmistakable Marshall sound! I play a very wide range of styles, from heavy metal, to pop punk, to indiepop to new wave, and it's that versatile to suit my needs at home! It makes not much of that single coil feedback you get with teles or strats either but if you use it too loud, it struggles to keep your sound from decaying! The main annoyance is the stupidly loud processor fan, I can usually hear it from accross the room but if your playing, you wont hear it. You get a 3 band EQ on both channels so you can vary your sound, and both channels have 2 modes, so you can personalise it to your own style. The "Clean" channel is what it says it is, but if you press the OD button you get very light distortion (in that classic Marshall 'crunch' tone). The "Overdrive" channel is classic Marshall once again a milder distortion, but press the OD button for this channel and you get something that can make your ears bleed or perhaps reserect the devil himself! // 7
Reliability & Durability: I've giged with it a couple of times (I have a DSL100 and it gets used a lot more) and it's never failed me. I can take it to rehearsals and it's always working fine. Seeing as I drink on stage it's not surprising that I've dropped it and spilt things on it and nothing! Absolutely nothing went wrong with it! The footswitch, being Marshall, can take just as much crap too. For the guitarist who's just starting to gig, you cant ask for more! // 8
Impression: Overall its a great choice. Its a versatile amp delivering 100watts of pure Marshall sound! But saying that, if it were stolen or I dropped it from the roof, it wouldn't be the end of the world! There are better amps out there, just not for this sort of cash. I wish I tested the headphone socket and the effects loop before I baught it. I love the on board effects and its outstanding value for money! If you want to tinker with stacks to see how they work, or just want something you can gig with for the first time, its a great package, but if you've been gigging for a while and had a few amps before, I'd look elsewhere! // 8
Reviewed by:
The Konztranata, on july 03, 2006 3 of 11 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 457.5
Purchased from: Local Guitar Shop
Features: Built in 2005. 3 channels, although the third is debatable. Solid state, gives respectable solid state companies such as HH and Carlsbro a bad name. A terrible gasket of inbuilt effects, which are basically either on or off. No compromise or tone Switch for us then! The amp is versatile, provided that you care very little about your tone. And most importantly, the Marshall logo, because of course, this amp is so poorly designed and constructed, that this is the only feature of supposed repute. // 5
Sound: I was sold this guitar, having been told that it could provide a reasonable volume for medium-ish sized gigs. it provides very little volume, infact, through the terribly designed and cheaply made G12 speakers in the stock MG cab especially. If you require volume, move at least to the AVT series or beyond. Remember, for the price of this lazy giant, you could buy a superbly high volumed Marshall or other combo. It has a poor low end presence, hence no bones will shake or hearts break etc. The high end frequencies however, even on mid settings are often shrill and tinny, even through the burstbuckers in my Les Paul. // 4
Reliability & Durability: Mine gave up after medium-heavy gigging in 6 months. Pathetic. Need I say more. At least it comes with a good warranty from new! // 1
Impression: I am a member of an experimental band, but consider myself a guitar and noise nerd! I was and still am dissapointed that Marshall have produced such a low quality and weak product, especially given that this product in particular is often bought by kids bursting with ambition as the begin their lives as musicians. Way to leave a bad taste in their mouths Marshall, just hope they knock on your dissolved factory door when they are superstars. // 3
Reviewed by:
WOLFMAN JOE, on january 08, 2006 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Musicians Friend
Features: I got this amp for Christmas and it has just gotten better and better. The effects it has are:
- Chorus/Delay
- Delay
- Chorus
- Flange
- Reverb
It is pretty large, the cab is about 2' x 2'; and the head is about 6" x 2'. It's great for practice in you room or for live gigs. The cab weighs apporxomatley 70lbs, and the head weighs approximatley 36lbs. It has a CD-In 1/8" jack and a headphone 1/8" jack. It has channel switching, and includes a footswitch. The head has outputs in the back for pedals and other speakers if you want to use them. Carrying handles on the side make it pretty easy to carry. Under the back of the head there is a compartment where you can store things like strings and picks. It comes with a 5 year manufacturers warranty. It just has so many features including the fact that it is somewhat affordable. It also comes with a bunch of 1/8" cables. // 10
Sound: I play a Limited Edition Fender So-Cal Speed Shop Strat, and it has one humbucker at the bridge. I play mostly emo, but I also play some metal like Slipknot and Killswitch Engage. I also play some punk like Green Day and Blink 182. And it makes all of those bands sound exactly the same, with the right amp settings of course. I use it in my room, and it can be noisy because it is big, but just turn it down and it is quiet. But that ain't fun. My friend came over to see it and know he wants one because he said the sound is amazing. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I just got it not even a month ago, but by the looks of it, it will last a while. It seems pretty reliable. I don't in a band so I don't know about gigs, but if I did I would definitley use this one. // 9
Impression: I have been playing about a year now and this amp is the best thing I bought so far. If it was stolen, because I could never lose such a large object, I would buy a new one after a lot of saving. I love everything about it. And it plays great with any type of music. // 10
Reviewed by:
cyclefreak207, on march 26, 2007 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 600
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: I think that the amp was made in 2006 or 2007. The amp has really good features, clean channel: gain, bass, middle, treble, and (clean/crunch). There is a overdriven channel: gain, (OD1/OD2) bass, middle, treble, contour volume. Also it has digital fx, preset/adjust (chorus/delay, delay, chorus, flang, reverb, effects loop mix. Also master volume, and FDD (frequency dependent dampening). There is also the foot Switch, with a channel Switch, and FDX. It is a solid state amp. On the front there are also CD/MP3 in, and headphones out. // 10
Sound: I have a Jay Turser Telecaster copy. It has elixir 10s in it, that were from whoever I bought it from. I use this amp for practice and to jam with my friends. I wouldn't have bought it if it didn't pack some noise. It's noisy as hell, but with a great tone. The distortion is not unmanageable like most amplifiers, the clean channel sound good with distortion, as does the overdriven channel. I prefer to play with a reverb too. It makes it sound like I'm in an auditorium. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I can depend on it, I would probably bet my life on it, I don't really "gig" per say, but I would definitely use it on stage, in front of an audience. It is not a tube amp so I don't worry about that. But I would definitely depend on it, I will hopefully use it on stage soon! // 10
Impression: I don't own any other gear, and don't really think I need it. But if it were stolen, I would buy this same one. In fact, my friends were so impressed by it's power and sound, a dude I didn't know that well kinda tried to take it I guess, but it is heavy and he didn't make it far through my living room. I compared it with a Randall half stack, and a Fender half stack, but I decided on this one. I kind of wish it had more effects, but I can Live without, because it is great. Dog Matter, is the name of our band! // 10
Reviewed by:
spunkeymonkey36, on april 14, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 457.5
Purchased from: ebay
Features: The MG100HDFX is a solidstate amplifier that has a lot to offer to it's user. It has many features even if some are pointless however. The good features are the overdrive settings, the sound effects, and the clean setting option and the footswitch. The headphone jack is okay if you want to connect it to a recording system, but I haven't tried this and using headphones on a 100W amp seems a bit silly. The bad and pointless features are the CD in jack, the digital enhancer thing (FDD) and the effects loop which doesn't make much difference to the sound. Also comes with a bass, middle, treble and contour setting which is expected and they perform quite well. Some of the features could be left out because it seems all they do is raise the price of the amplifier. // 6
Sound: This amplifier can make a good sound but it has it flaws. The overdrive is good when turned up to the max so it's great for metal players. The midway overdrive settings are good for classic rock players. For blues players a decent sound can be achieved with low settings of overdrive. The tone is average on overdrive on low volumes and if often hollow and does not sustain long notes. I'm sure this is the amp and not the guitar as I have other amps which perform much better at these levels. Once the amp is cranked in a large hall this is where it out performs itself. The tone suddenly gets much better and beefier. Playing chords on it does sound muddy but it's okay. Unfortunatley where the sound does fall down is the clean setting is not so good. I've had the amp for about a year now and it's started to fuzz on teh clean setting at low volumes. Also it has a pointless gain setting on the clean which does nothing but feedback at high volume and add price to the amp. Another pointless feature is the digital enhancer which is also rubbish because the amp is useles unless it is turned on so you may as well cellotape it to the on setting when you get it. The effects are also good and are fun to play with especially the reverb and it doesn't sound cheesy. A rather good thing about this amp is the volume which can play comfortably high on the overdrive setting. What I would change however is the A BIS MAL cabinet that is recommended my Marshall, the mg412. I beleive this is the main cause for many of the amps get rid of this and spend a bit more money and buy a real cabinet and this will play a lot better. Overall it's okay, if you spend £200 on a head then buy this, you'll be happy. Remember though it's not a JCM. // 8
Reliability & Durability: So far this hasn't broken down yet even if it has been bashed around quite a bit. It seems pretty tough when handling it and I can't see it breaking anytime soon. The build quality is quite good as well. If I had the choice I would play with a backup amp Live, but I don't have the money. // 9
Impression: I like this Marshall amplifier. It does have it's bad points but it's expected for the price paid and sounds great if played in a room with good acoustics. It looks quite nice as well with the whole black and gold and Marshall logo. I wouldn't buy this amp again and would perhaps go for one with tubes and overall a higher spec. Paying a little more would be worth it. I guess if Marshall were to sort out all of the problems of the MG100HDFX then this would be a great amp, but it's not: it's only good. // 7
Reviewed by:
Johansensan, on july 19, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 600
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: I got this amp for Christmas this past year, Brand New. I have the recomended MG412A cab along with it. It has 2 channels with 2 options for each channel. The clean channel offers a crunch option that I've never really had a use for. The overdrive channel has OD1 and OD2. My understanding is that the OD1 is built like a solid state amp should sound (this amp is solid state). The OD2 is designed to mimic a tube amp and 1-ups pretty much everything the OD1 option can offer. The amp has built in effects, reverb, chorus, delay, flanger, and chorus+delay. It comes with a footswitch that lets you Switch between clean and overdrive and turn the effects on and off. I use this at home nonstop. I never take it higher than 5 and I usually wear protective headphones when I do. The amp is a bit smaller than most cabs/heads because it is built for the halfstack package. Also the controls are on the top of the head rather than the bottom which makes it easier to adjust with 1 cab but could be difficult with 2. // 9
Sound: I run an LTD EX-400 through this 99% of the time but I'll sometimes use my Dean Michael Schenker Standard. I play metal (mostly Metallica) and this amp definatly does the job. My house has amazing acoustics, you can hear a normal conversation downstairs from the upstairs so this amp gets boosted a lot from that. There's no feedback from the amp until you get up to about 7. I've gotten up there once just to see how loud it was and the feedback was unbearable. The amp can go anywhere from blusey to metal, to classic rock, pretty much anywhere. using active pickups the clean channel gets distorted very easily which is annoying but using the Dean it usually is fine. The distortion is pretty heavy, I play with the bass on 9 or 10 which is pretty low but it's not quite low enough for me, the bass needs to be a bit lower and darker but other than that everythings pretty nice. // 7
Reliability & Durability: This amp is very light. The head weights 30lb which is incredebly light for an amp which some say means the amp isnt worth getting. I think it works fine. I heard that after being on for long periods of time the fan starts to fail and it smokes a little but I haven't had that happen to me. I've had this for I guess almost 7 months and I've yet to have a problem with it. The amp seems very durable and I've seen it used for gigs and it's worked fine. // 7
Impression: This is a pretty good match for someone Who plays metal or hardrock, or really anything. I like my bass super low which kind of upsets me. This is my first head and cabnet so I don't have much to compare this to but it's good enough for me. If someone took the amp I'd be upset about it and I'd probably get it again, unless I was told money isnt an option. this is definatly worth the price. I love the nice price, huge volume, and the built-in effects but again, I'd like to have deeper bass tones and a longer cable for the footswitch. // 8
Reviewed by:
jo3myster, on june 30, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: This amps features are pretty nice. The FX loop is a pretty nice bonus.Its got two channels, Clean and Over Drive. On each channel there is a button you can press that will add more Drive. So if your on clean and you want a little crunch press that button and there you go. If your on overdrive channel press that button and you'll go from overdrive to distortion. This thing also has some built in effects. It's got Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Delay Chorus, and reverb. It also comes with a two button foot controller so you can turn on the selected effect with the controller or Switch channels with the other button. This amp is good enough for now but as soon as I get enough money for an Orange stack this thing is gone! // 7
Sound: I'm constantly kicking my self in the head for buying this amp. I bought this before I knew what the difference between tube and solid state was, big mistake. As of right now I am using an Epiphone G-400 with Seymour Duncans(JB-4 and Jazz) and an Ibanez RG series. Then for pedals I have Dunlop 535Q Wah-Wah, Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi. Through my FX loop I got an DigiTech RP80 and a Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator. With all of this I play a lot of Metal, Blues, Hardcore, Progressive type music. (Anything but country) This amp barely satisfies my needs tone wise. I can hardly ever get an exceptable tone out of it. And don't bother turning this thing past 7 8ish type area it sounds terrible. Not that it is necisary for me to do that cause this thing sure is loud enough to play over my bros drums but if you need something real loud this is something to take into consideration. // 6
Reliability & Durability: This amp is deffinatly durable and reliable. I've had this amp for about six months now and it has never broken before and I've never had any problems with it not working properly. I take pretty good care of my stuff, but even if I didn't I'm sure this thing would still last. But if I had a gig or something of that nature, this amp would be my backup amp if I had another better amp but I don't. But if I did gig with this amp I would bring a backup because I'd rather be prepaired but I don't think I would need a backup. So all in all I think you can trust this amp for a while. // 8
Impression: I have only been playing guitar for a little over a year now and I've had this amp for about half of that time. This amp is good for a starter stack, but if your an experienced guitarist or in a serous band don't buy this amp. Save up for a tube amp, I myself plan on buying an Orange half stack after I get enough money. This thing will just help get you started out with a band, it's good for just jamming with your buddies. If I lost this amp or it got stolen I would just save up for a tube half stack, preferably an Orange. // 7
Reviewed by:
drake-182, on july 07, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 175
Purchased from: Nevada Music
Features: I purchased my MG100HDFX approximately 8 months ago, from Nevada Music in Portsmouth. It has 2 channels, each with 2 different distortion levels. The clean channel, is what it says it is, no distortion, and it is paired with the crunch channel, which has a little distortion. The overdrive channel has OD1, which is more of a classic rock style distortion, and OD2, which is a very high gain distortion, which has added high and low end. It has a headphone/line out jack, which I find very useful, and was pleasantly surprised as to the quality of the output for recording! It also has CD-in, which I've never used, and a Frequency Dependent Dampening Switch, which effectively emulates tube amps, it's useful if using a cabinet, not useful if using line out. It has a built-in digital FX circuit, and an FX loop. You can use one of 4 different effects (chorus, delay, chorus/delay and flange), as well as the reverb at any one time. There is also an FX level knob, and a reverb level knob. // 8
Sound: I play my MG100HDFX through a Marshall AVT 4x12 200w cabinet. I chose to get the AVT cabinet over the standard MG cabinet due to the better response over the entire sound spectrum that you get from the AVT cabinet. I would avoid the standard MG cabinets if you can afford the extra £90 for the AVT cabinet. I play an Epiphone Les Paul Junior, fitted with a Seymour Duncan Invader humbucking pickup in the bridge position. I find that I can almost completely replicate Tom DeLonge's Live sound using this setup, and this amp's OD2 channel is great for all types of Pop-Punk and some metal (e.g. Lamb Of God). I use the OD2 channel mainly, with gain at 7, bass at 6, mids at 8, treble at 7, and contour at 4. I love the sound that these settings give me. When using the clean channel, I must be sure to turn down the volume on my guitar, due to the slightly too high gain that this amp has on that channel. You can however get a very nice tone from it. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I would certainly rely on this amp, It has been dropped getting out of a car 3 or 4 times, and still sounds the same as it did the day I bought it. This head is used for bedroom practice, rehearsals, and at local venues. I have had many people Who stuck there noses up at this amp due to the solid-state nature, but after hearing it were actually pleasantly surprised. // 10
Impression: I have been playing guitar for nearly 3 years now, and I feel that this amp is perfect for someone of my playing experience. If you have been playing for more than 5 years I would recommend taking a long jump up the price range to the TSL or JCM series of Marshall amps. I mixed and matched all of the Sub-£300 (I had a £500 budget to get a stack with) heads and cabinets at Nevada Music in Portsmouth, and came to the conclusion that using the AVT412 200w cabinets with the MG100HDFX head makes a really good sound. I would recommend trying this head with many different cabinets before buying it, some of the cabinets that I tried were very poor. I would definitely recommend this head, aslong it is matched with a good cabinet. // 9
Reviewed by:
Th6r6a6sH, on july 15, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 699.99
Features: This amplifier is a 2007, 100-watt, solid-state model, consisting of 2 channels, clean and overdrive, with a crunch button on the clean channel, and an OD1/OD2 (overdrive) Switch on the overdrive channel. A 3-band EQ and gain control exist on either channel, but the overdrive channel adds a Contour knob and overdrive volume knob to that channel. A footswitch jack for channel switching and onboard effects activation is located on the back panel, alongside the parallel effects jacks (send & return), and the two external speaker jacks. Four separate effects when activated, effect both channels: chorus w/ delay, delay, chorus, and flange can be achieved by an effect selection knob (limited fine tuning abilities, as there is only a small space to rotate knob before changing the effect), activated by footswitch only, and a global effect volume determines the overall volume of the engaged effect, while a separate Reverb knob (non-footswitchable) controls the global Reverb Effect. On the front panel a 1/4' CD input jack is supplied for play-along practice, right next to a 1/4' emulated line-out/headphone jack for silent practice. To date, I have used this amp in practice situations, such as rehearsal in a garage or band classroom, and school auditoriums for a live performance, and this amplifier has supplied quite enough power for either venue. // 7
Sound: Currently I run a Squier Stagemaster H/S/H model with stock pickups through this amp, and have never had much trouble with things like feedback and gain levels that couldn't be controlled by moving away. My style is influenced by a fair amount of classic Thrash metal like Puppets-era Metallica, Rust In Peace-era Megadeth, but isn't limited to blues-rock styles like Guns N' Roses and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and I've found that with the right amount of patience, the right ear, and a few knob tweaks here and there, any sound I desire can be replicated efficiently. From bright clean and bluesy Drive on just the clean setting alone, a wide array of tones can be heard that don't distort much at a. The crunch switch engages a gritty AC/DC type growl, but the gain knob doesn't do much to control the level of distortion. The overdrive channel has two very gritty settings, OD1 being the lower gain overdrive, that at a low gain setting sort of picks up where a maxed-gain clean left off in terms of distortion. Great for single-coil drive without much hum. OD2 is a higher gain stage that, at a low gain setting, picks up where a maxed out OD1 setting left off. A Maxed out setting lends an intense distort the classic metal fans would enjoy, but it's not too brutal. The contour knob modifies the midrange to make the amp sound more midrangey when turned down, and more scooped when dialed up, and this helps greatly when searching for a razor-edged tone. All in all, a wide variety of tones can be achieved with patience and a good ear. // 7
Reliability & Durability: This amplifier has never given me any trouble live or in a practice situation. I have treated it with the utmost care I could, and I expect this amp to deliver as much as I put into it because of that. I have had a few spills with this amp, it was knocked over, dropped twice, and had a few beverages spilled on it, but never once have I run into an instance where I thought I might need to replace the head. Durable, yes, Reliable, Yes. // 8
Impression: I'm well-known around my school as "that rock dude" who plays hard rock often. The black and gold cosmetics from Marshall are synonymous with a Rock image, and I've found that to my advantage when playing for a large congregation. In my Four years playing through cheap guitars and inexpensive practice amps, I've come to appreciate what this amp has done for me. I've even named the thing, I appreciate it so much, and if someone were to ever steal it, I would have to get after them with a blowtorch and pair of pliers for taking something dear to me like this amp. I love the classic look of Marshall and even though this isn't a tube driven amp, I use it like the best piece of equipment in the world. I'm not so big into effects, so iI admire this relatively simple setup. // 9
Reviewed by:
sektor47, on january 26, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 576.7
Purchased from: Long & McQuade
Features: This amp was made actually pretty recent. Both the head and cabinet was made in 2007. This amp is VERY versatile. It's great at achieving many different tones. You can have bright clean tones, mild dirty blues tone, dirty blues tone, classic rock tone, hard rock tone, metal tone. The MG100HDFX achieves them darn well keeping good sound quality. The amp has 2 channels, clean & overdrive. On each of the channels, includes 2 secondary channel options, clean/crunch, and OD1/OD2. It comes with a footswitch for channel and effects. The amp has decent multi-effects. Delay, Chorus and Flanger. Also has a seperate digital reverb knob. There is a headphone jack for if you want to jam at home being quiet. I wish this amp had a Standby Switch. I am known to leave my amp running when I take long breaks, etc, and a standby Switch really comes in handy! I really don't use effects that much, unless I'm experimenting or doing a cover that requires effects to be used. I use this amp as my primary amp, in every situation. This amp is a powerhouse of power! I've already cranked it to full and it is loud enough for slightly larger stages, etc. // 8
Sound: I am using an Epiphone Korina SG with this half-stack. This amp supports my music style best, and it supports all music styles pretty darn well. The amp gets a bit of hum as you turn it louder. There is a bit of hum when you turn up the gain, and it's even worse when there is lighting around, etc. This amp can make a lot of sounds. You can go from tones such as, nice ringing bright soothing cleans, soft fuzzy blues, soft classic crunch blues, classic crunch, crunch, raw crunch, hard rocking crunch, metal crunch, metal, deeep leads. The amp has a lot of variety. I can reach some AC/DC tones preferably well, some Led Zeppelin tones, etc. The interaction between the channel volume and master volume knob is incredibly realistic. If you have low channel volume, and higher master volume on the clean channel, the tone stays nice and clean, but if you Switch it around, clean channel volume at full and master volume low, the channel distorts like a real tube amp. If you have the clean channel on full with master on full, you have fairly high speaker distortion! I am not so sure about the overdrive channel, I can't really tell the difference. // 8
Reliability & Durability: It's been reliability tested AND durability tested. I've jammed for countless power hours many times with the amp on full, I've stood on it while jamming, I've driven it around, so this amp WILL stand up to most things! I would use this amp on a gig without a backup, because my backup would be a low quality 25 watter! The amp has never broken down, I have never had a problem with it at all except for sometimes when you roll the clean channel volume knob, there's a scratchy sound coming from the speakers. // 10
Impression: I play mostly blues, classic rock, and hard rock, and this amp DEFINITLY fits all three styles. I have been playing guitar for 3 years now. I own an Epiphone Korina SG, Marshall MG100HDFX half-stack, Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic, Fender Frontman 25R, and a Squier SP-10. Not at all, I do not regret buying this amp! If it was stolen / lost, I would probably look and see if any amps have dropped into the same price range as this one, if not, I would rebuy this amp! I love the tone, the looks, the feel of this amp. I hate how there is no standby Switch, and how there is little holds for the head to go exactly into place. My favourite feature, is master volume, it really lets you balance out your clean channel and overdrive channel when you go to footswitch it out. I compared it to many amps, including the Vintage Modern. It can compete with the Vintage Modern, but to be 1/3 the price of the Vintage Modern, I only had the money to get the MG half-stack. // 8
Reviewed by:
ESP^Guitarist, on july 14, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 749.99
Purchased from: American Musical Supply
Features: Marshall Amps were made for the "everyday musicians" and the "unique" guitarists. It has 3 channels which features clean, overdrive, and digital FX channels. It comes with a footswitch for toggling with Clean and Overdrive channels. While the overdrive channel wins for the most knobs and sound control, the digital FX takes the gold for the best overall sound changes and effects. This amp couldn't be more versitle and giving sound wise. It has been the loudest but takes your hearing to a heaven it could never imagine! // 9
Sound: I'm using an Alexi Laiho 200 Signature with Floyd Rose trembelo system pickups. It takes me to a new place of quality sounds I thought I would never find in an amp. It only takes it up to "2" on the master volume knob to have home practicing. Louder than 2 and you have a real beast! This amp has the variety equivilent to CD shop, unlimited. The clean channel is only distorted if you have it on the "clean/crunch" setting. Other than that, it is asclean as clean gets. The distortion is the most hardcore distortion I've ever heard. It gives you a "death metal" sound while having enough cleaness to where you can hear what you're playing. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I could depend on this amp anywhere and everywhere I could go as of shows. I trust this amp with my life. It might just be the most durable amp I've ever owned! I've never had an amp that hasn't broken down or has been short-circuted. I also am impressed with the move weight and how easily I can move it. // 9
Impression: I play mostly hardcore/screamo with a twist of metal. This amp gave me the versatility to play this genre. I've only been playing about 2 years but my friends and family say I could be famous at a young age if I wanted to. If my amp were ever to be broken or stolen I would go right back and purchase the same model and brand because I have fell in love with my Marshall. My favorite feature of this amp is the overdrive channel. It has given me a new outlook on sounds and amp can give. I compare it with the so called best-of-the-best amp, Krank. In my opinion, I think Marshall has a better sound quality and sounds better in gigs. There is nothing I could want or change on this amp. Very close to perfection. // 10
Reviewed by:
grungefan89, on april 30, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 321.82
Purchased from: GO Music
Features: I purchased my Marshall MG100 Half-Stack used, badly needing an upgrade from the small, practice-level Fender amp I was soldiering on with. Both the MG412 cab and the head were made in early 2003. The MG Half-Stack comes with a clean/crunch channel and another OD1/OD2 channel, as well as built-in effects (delay/chorus, delay, chorus, and flanger, as well as reverb). There is also Valvestate-type emulation with the FDD button on this amp, which gives just a little more "ooomph" to the clean channel. I find that this half-stack has the power I'm looking for as a guitarist Who plays mostly metal, hardcore, progressive, and alternative and also as a guitarist in a band preparing to enter gigs, etc. This particular MG100 stack has a great tone when you play it clean and acceptable tone with the OD2 channel, both channels actually being much better than the few MGs I've played in the past in shops. However, as with those other MGs, I find the Crunch and OD1 channels are useless nevertheless, providing horrible, muddy tone not much better than the Frontman amp I had to use previously to my purchase of this used amp. Use of these channels are best avoided entirely. The built-in effects are very nice, though I'm partial to the delay effect myself. The effects aren't actually half bad. As with the entire MG-Series line, though, the sound tends to be less authentic Marshall. Put any MG in front of a AVT or JCM, or even the VS that the MG-Series replaced, and you'll savor the chance to buy at least the head unit from any of those other series. The Marshall patina is there, just not in the very high doses that you'd expect. // 7
Sound: I use an Epiphone Les Paul Standard/Classic of the same year as this stack (2003) loaded with Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky.12 gauge strings, which suits what I play and my playing style quite well. I also keep an '02 Fender Strat close at hand as well, loaded with.11 gauge strings also from Ernie Ball, for some playing with a clean channel, blues, or leads. The only time you can get "negative feedback" (or just a lot of static-type noise when you're not playing anything) is when you use a single-coil equipped guitar, but that has to do with the single-coil pickups and not the amp itself. However, the fan that keeps the head cool on mine does tend to be very noisy when you first Switch the amp on. It's a mere niggling complaint though, albeit very annoying. As I said earlier, the amp has great tone on the clean channel which doesn't really distort any any volume and acceptable tone using the OD2 overdrive channel. The Crunch and OD1 channels have less than acceptable, muddy, can I say "cheap" tone and they are best not used. Overall, the distortion has backbone, but no balls, if I make any sense. However, if you really want a nice, distorted, crunchy tone, buy a Boss DS-1, Metal Core, EHX Metal Muff or any other distortion-type pedal and click it on through the clean channel. That should provide a nice, clear, distorted sound suitable for whatever you want to play, depending on the settings. For the price I paid though, the tone overall is nice. // 8
Reliability & Durability: Could I depend on my MG half-stack? Why of course. This amp is sturdy as a lead brick and I could use this at any upcoming gig without a backup. A plus to the MG-Series, or any other solid state-type amp as far as that goes, is that they can hold up to extreme amounts of punishment. My MG hasn't broken down so far and it probably won't if I hold up my end and take good care of my equipment. // 8
Impression: For playing metal, hardcore, alt., and the other styles of rock I play, this amp tends to be a good match. I've been playing for almost six years now so I'm not terribly experienced, but I'm not exactly a beginner either. I also own a garden variety of what you would call cheap guitars, I have a Squier Strat and a Telecaster Special which are my back-up guitars to my Les Paul and Fender Strat. When I bought my amp I just wish I could have listened to the cooling fan and asked what was up with it (I think it's just a quirk, though, since I've heard that MG just have noisy cooling fans in different reviews on different sites). If this amp vanished, were stolen, set on fire, hit by a Mack truck, shot in a Drive-by, blown up by Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass crew, or mauled in some freak accident featured on Scarred, I don't know if I would go for another MG half-stack, as I wouldn't pay the price for one of these puppies brand-new. These amps are better off purchased as used equipment or in blowout sale where the price is brought down to the three-hundred dollar and below mark. I love the clean tone, however, it's not as bad as most people make it out to be and is much better than other MGs I've had the (dis)honor of playing. Whoever had this half-stack before me must have a good ear and played a few others MGs before settling on it. As I said before, I loathe the Crunch and OD1 channels, as well as the noisy cooling fan. The effects are a nice feature, although I fail to find a favorite feature on this amp. I played my used MG stack against a Randall half-stack and a Line6 Spider II half-stack. The MG was the better amp out of the three hands down (for those Who hate the MG half-stack, play a Spider II: they're probably the worst half-stack out there). This amp is going to have to last me a pretty damn long time until I can get a Mesa Boogie Rectifier. // 7
Reviewed by:
LustGarden, on december 04, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 300
Purchased from: Dunham's Music
Features: I think this is a 2006 head. I purchased it with the 400w Peavy Valveking cab. I play mostly blues rock and hard rock and I've found that this amp is pretty versatile and is very good for what I play. I never use the OD1 channel, it just seems pointless. the OD2 channel however is very good. I've played a couple gigs with this amp and it has more than enough power. The only thing that pisses me off about this amp is that the fan sometimes makes a loud grinding noise for about 10 seconds when I first turn it on. It doesn't effect the sound, but it is annoying. // 8
Sound: The sound is very good. The clean channel is excellent and doesnt't break up or sound muddy when it is turned at high volumes. My main guitar is a Fender Standard Telecaster and they sound good together there is feedback but it's just the stock pickups on the Telecaster. The good sound probably somewhat has to do with me using the Peavy Valveking cab instead of the Marshall. The head sounds very good with the cab. The distortion on this amp is pretty good. A lot of people say it isn't enough, but I have a feeling these are the kinds of people that like to hide behind a huge wall of distortion and noise. The distortion is warm, and sounds very good. I especially like the reverb on this amp. The other effects are pretty good too. I don't use a lot of effects, but it's good to have them. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I have used this in a couple gigs and it hasn't failed me yet. It's very reliable. As far as durability, I'm careful with my equipment so it hasn't taken any hard hits, but I'm guessing that the fan will be screwed if the head falls off the cab or something. Amp has never broken down, but I would like to know what causes that awful buzzing noise from the fan. // 7
Impression: Overall this is a very good amp for Blues Rock, so it's perfect for me. You can't really get that much of a metal distortion from this thing, but there are pedals for that. If this were stolen or lost, I would have to buy another one but it would cost almost twice as much as I paid for this, because I got both the head and the cab, brand new, for only 300 at a closeout sale at Dunham's Music. My favorite feature on this amp is the clean channel at high volumes. It sounds so good and it doesnt't break up or anything. But cranking the distortion up, setting the reverb up a little bit, and burning the house down with a wah-soaked solo is another favorite. // 9
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on june 20, 2005 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: www.gak.co.uk
Features: I have just recently purchased this amp as my first big amp because I'm just starting having gigs. It has two channels, footswitchable. A headphone input, CD in (so you can rock along to your favourite tunes). It's A solid state head with an fdd button which Marshall say imitates the sound of a valve amp, To be honest I can't hear the diffrence. // 10
Sound: At the Minute I'm using a Yamaha Pacifica for rock styles mainly as it has 2 distortion modes od1/od2, I am impressed with the volume of it I am using the head with a angled 4 x 12 cab and the volume is unbleeivable! The clean channel is very high quality it is good when electro-accostics are plugged in it doesnt distort them. The distortion is either very beefy or more mild and bluesy your choice! // 10
Reliability & Durability: I'd say this amp is very dependable I would use it at a gig without backup. It has never broken down. // 10
Impression: I play mostly rock/heavy metal, this amp is perfect for that. I have been playing 3 years and I own a Laney hardcore max practice amp and a Yahama Pacifica and a few acoustics. If It were stolen I'd get another one of these. If I Had the money I would buy a straight 4x12 cab to make it a full stack! // 10
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on january 04, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 722.85
Purchased from: williams guitar shop
Features: The features of this amp are awesome. I play mostly heavy metal and it sounds great through my Marshall. I has 4 channel: clean; crunch; overdrive 1 and overdrive 2. I don't really use OD1 as it isnt really my sound but OD2 is awesome for metal; punk ect. The crunch I don't really use either as it isnt the style of music I play but the clean channel is great and can be used for a lot of music styles. There are also equalizers for each channel: on clean there are gain; bass; middle and treble and on od there are gain; bass; middle; treble; contour and OD volume. The last of the features are the digital fx. There are 5 preset effects: chorus/delay; delay; chorus; flange and reverb. There is also an effects loop mix and a free footswitch to turn the dfx on and off and to change channels. Unfortunatly it doesn't turn off the reverb as the reverb level is seperate to the FX levels. // 9
Sound: I am using a Westfield E8000E Explorer guitar which is a decent guitar with decent pick ups and the Marshall makes it sound brilliant like it is a Gibson (bit exageration). It suits my style of metal because it's loud, sounds great a looks awesome. I haven't giged it yet but am going to very soon. It's really loud! It's being on half way max and that's probably loud enough to play a large pub gig and make everyone deaf. The amp has a large variety of sounds from blues and classical to rock and metal and it sounds brilliant for all types of music. The clean channel sounds brilliant at all levels and the distortion is brutal enough to rip your head off and put it on upside down! // 10
Reliability & Durability: I can't really say as it's never been gigged and I've only had the amp for a short time but I've asked people I know Who own this amp and they say they've had there's for 1-2 years and it still sounds great and has never failed them. I hope the amp will last a a long time and I'm pretty sure I wont need a backup amp when I eventually do gigs this year. // 9
Impression: This amp is absolutely awesome for all styles of music, I've been playing for 3 years now and know quite a few styles and playing them on this amp they sound brilliant. if it was stolen I would either buy this amp again or get a dsl head from the Marshall range as they are probably the best amps in the world. I love everything about this amp apart from not having a footswitch to turn the reverb off because that is soooo annoying. If there was anything this amp could have to make it better it would be more preset effects and a reverb footswitch and that would be about it. // 10
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on november 05, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 513.5
Purchased from: Long & Mcquade
Features: I believe it was made in 2006-2007, one of the newer half stacks from Marshall. The amp is very flexible, you can go from classic soft gain to some hot, raw crunch tone. The distortion itself is not so good for metal, more of a hard rock/classic rock amp. It has two channels, clean and overdrive. Then you have the whole effects section, which comes with a lot of fun effects and a seperate reverb knob. The amp is pretty good, it gets room-loud at about 2-3 volume, it's a fairly simple amp, a volume knob for each Drive. It is a solid-state half-stack, but sounds incredibly tube-like. What this amp needs is two seperate portions in the overdrive channel, so you can have a preset for classic rock, and then with a footswitch or whatever, you can change to crunch. What it needs is a standby Switch, so every time you don't need to wait for the fan to start up, which takes like 5 minutes to quiet down. // 9
Sound: I am using an modified Epiphone G-400 Korina, with a Seymour Duncan SH-4 Humbucker in the Treble pickup slot. Nothing else, just guitar & amp. The amp suits my music style very much, because of its famous crunch and classic gain, I fell in love with the amp after playing a few riffs on it. The amp is not that noisy, if you really stick your ear at the cabinet, you'll hear a little bit of hum, but it wouldn't bug you at all. The amp can make a lot of tones, you can go from crunchy soft rock to some deep long soft rock, to some raw-ass crunch and such. The distortion is good for me, I'm not a guy that cranks the gain to full, so it wouldn't matter for how brutal the distortion would be, the gain sounds great at low distortion and mid. The amp sounds very solid, and full. Balanced in smoothness and crunch. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I think it's pretty reliable, I played it for 5 hours straight and nothing really happened or changed. I would definetly use it in a gig without a backup, because the amp works and sounds great! The amp has never broken down, why would it? I just bought it recently. // 10
Impression: I really like this half-stack. And for its price, it's hard to not fall in love with it. The amp is a incredible match for my style of playing, it is flexible enough to reach the tones of my hard rock licking riffs, and then my soft classic rock stuff. If I lost this amp, or it broken down, and I did not have the budget to get an expensive Marshall, I would get this amp again. It's a very good half stack for its quality to price ratio. I don't like how it only has a clean and overdrive channel, and nothing else in the clean and overdrive channel. I also wish they had a standby Switch, it's just good when you plan to take a break after jamming for a while. Overall, this is a very good amp from Marshall, it's almost as good as the 2000$ half-stacks. // 9
Reviewed by:
sektor47, on november 14, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 571.881
Purchased from: Long & McQuade
Features: The amp is very versatile, extremely versatile, yet keeping its original Marshall sound quality. I play classic rock, blues, and hard rock, and the amp can reach all of them tones with no problem! 2 channels, with 2 positions on each. Comes with chorus, delay, and flanger. The digital reverb knob is seperate from the effects. I wish the amp had a standby switch, so when you go to get something, or go on a break, no need to turn off the amp, just standby! I never really use the crunch on the clean channel, cause when you turn it up, it gets a bit too distorted for the natural warm clean crunch. I use this amp in my dining room, in my house. Of course it has enough power for me! 120 Watts of Marshall quality, can't get better than that. Solid-state half-stack, yet still sounding like a real tube-amp. // 9
Sound: I am using a modified Epiphone G-400 Korina with it, and it just sounds beautiful. Nice and smooth, warm clean sound, warm classic gain sound, face-licking raw crunch, just beautiful! The amp is quite hummy on high gain, but I think that's because of my guitar, somethings wrong with the pickups. The amp sounds great when it's cranked, keeps it's original sound quality, but sounds better when cranked! The distortion can be brutal, just know how to set your knobs and you can get some face-licking ball-kicking gain. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I would depend on it, nothing has happened that is bad yet. No crackling noises, fan is nice and quiet every time, no pops. I play it for many hours, and the head stays nice and cool, the fan is working properly. I haven't taken it apart yet to see what's inside, but right now, it doesn't need to be taken apart yet. // 10
Impression: This amp is awesome. I recommend it to anyone past beginner level in guitar. The amp is pretty simple to use, I just wish it came with a standby Switch, really useful. I love the sound that comes out of it, sounds so solid, full, smooth. I compared the half-stack to a Marshall JCM2000, Vintage Modern, and it can compete! For 723$, it's a great budget half-stack, that sounds like a Marshall tube-amp! // 10
Reviewed by:
marko1000, on november 19, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Troy's music
Features: Marshall MG100HDFX head is a lot more versatile. It is a 2 channel head that you can Switch between with a foot Switch pedal. It has a headphone jack, and an input for a CD. It has a few effects that saved me the trouble of getting pedals. Like reverb, flange, and chorus. I play grunge/metal/hardcore/acoustic all kind of put together on this amp. And it is more than capable of doing this. It has more than enough power than what I know what to do with. Because if we end up playing shows I know people with full stacks that I can use. // 10
Sound: I use an ESP KH-202 with EMG LH-300 pickups, and the style I play is mostly heavy metal, hardcore, death metal, rock. It has the best tone, has the grunt and brutality of the overdrive. has a most chunkier sound! At almost halfway through the dial of the volume, is very very loud and I hardly get any feedback at all and humming, perfect. This amp has a very nice warm clean tone to it, overdrive 1 and 2, and crunch for those people that play old school rock. The distortion I am most of a fan about, my friend has a Randall G2 RH200 head, and when we were jamming today, the MG100HDFX kills it with the beefiness of the distortion compared to the Randall. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I'd definitely use this to gig with, it has the clarity and Precision and tone and power I need for it. I would never neglect this amp, I've been playing everday with this amp, and never been disappointed. This amp I will use for many years and never throw it away or sell it. this amp has been with me for 3 years of constant jamming with it with my mates and at school. this amp cen keep up with any thing for such a small price to pay too! the amp is built like a truck and does not have any chips or scratches, still Brand New out of the box condition. // 10
Impression: This head has everything you need to play with, whatever style of music you play, buy this amp. I've been playing 3 years now and this solid state amp almost mimics a all valve amp which is amazing. I'd definately buy this amp again if it were to be stolen or lost. My favourite feature of this amp is the delay and re verb for those clean tones. And also the beautiful overdrive. I love everything about it. // 10
pjrocks54
: I will agree with the above reviews to the point that you can get killer tones out of the MG100HDFX, but, as far as being reliable it's a POS!!! Cuts out at practice as well as at gigs. I got rid of it and replaced it with a Marshall AVT50H. It has as much balls as the MG100 and sounds much warmer as it has a 12AX7 preamp tube in the preamp section. I just got it and feel the best is yet to come. Rock on my children! POSTED: 05/10/2006 - 08:07 pm / quote|
sabbath1313
: I bought this amp about six months ago mainly because I am a student and don't have a lot of money to spare, and this is (in my opinion) the best amp in it's price range. Despite it's low cost it is surprisingly good sounding and mixed with different FX pedals it sounds great. Unlike pjrocks54 I have bashed this amp around, and gigged with it and have never had the slightest problem. It makes all my friends jealous, and to get such a great amp at such a low price is a bargain. POSTED: 05/28/2006 - 01:56 pm / quote|
Shredlet
: Ive heard that the MG's are meant to be really crap is this a lie or does it have some truth to it? POSTED: 06/24/2006 - 08:45 am / quote|
rockdude_2008
: i was gonna buy this but everyone told me it sucked, wow differnces in opinions on ultimate-guitar.com
spunkeymonkey36
: I bought this guitar amp of ebay a few months back. I think this is a great amp for the money and the tone on the clean channel is great. I like the overdrive on it as well, but surprisingly I found that my smaller marshall mg15fx has more tone and can sustain notes longer in the same settings. It is a great shame really. I have also heard rumours that these amps have a tendancy to over heat if the volume is pumped up to high. This hasnt happened to me yet but i dont go any higher than 3/4 of the way up. Nevertheless this is very loud and will do your ears in if your not careful. POSTED: 07/05/2006 - 06:22 am / quote|
Corle
: Guys if anyone rights a bad review, they lie. BUY IT. you cannot go wrong with this amp POSTED: 07/21/2006 - 09:39 pm / quote|
different107
: marshall makes some of the best...no doubt about it POSTED: 07/23/2006 - 03:03 pm / quote|
gibsonlespaul44
: marshall makes THE best....no doubt about it POSTED: 07/28/2006 - 01:27 am / quote|
gibsonlespaul44
: i also own this amp. if your into punk music like fallout boy, greenday, ect. youll love this amp. also corle is right. they reason they are lying is to get u to buy a different one like one in the jcm series. this is the best solid state amp for the price and sound POSTED: 07/28/2006 - 01:30 am / quote|
thunderinblack
: zakk wylde sometimes uses it POSTED: 08/29/2006 - 03:05 pm / quote|
E V H 5150
: Is an MG100HDFX better than an MG250DFX? And is either better than a Peavey ValveKing? Or should I go to EBay and buy a 5150 combo? POSTED: 09/09/2006 - 10:29 am / quote|
powerlord
: I just bought one of these today after trying a Crate,a kustom,and a peavey in the same price range and all I can say is way to go Marshall!!!I thought for a long time that Marshall was just a name,not true,they deliver and roll the competition,this stack rocks! POSTED: 10/10/2006 - 09:26 pm / quote|
No, he doesnt. He uses JCMs. He got paid by marshall to appear in ads for MGs. Please look things up before trying to act like you know about them.
For all of you wanting to buy this amp, please, save up a little more and go for an all tube amp. If you stick with guitar, you will thank yourself in the long run. The cleans are decent on these, but the distortion is really muddy. Look into a B-52 AT series amp for a reasonably priced tube amp. It may be a bit of a step up price wise, but you will love it. Tubes are also MUCH louder, my 2x12" tube is at least 2 times louder than my friends MG half stack, and his sounds terrible when cranked. POSTED: 10/24/2006 - 10:53 am / quote|
iceberg
: Not everyone can spend $1000 on a head and then $800 on a cab. If your a serious gigger, then you should have a PA system which projects all the sound. Marshall has earned it's respect in the rock world. I got the mg100dfx with the mg412a cab and this thing is all I need. This amp WILL hurt your ears, be careful!! Anyone who put's this amp down is probably using something rediculous like a avt pitbull or a mesa boogie. That could be 6 month's of income for some people. If your using a combo amp or a pathetic box with a speaker in it, then this is your best bet for a reasonable upgrade. Nevermind the anti-Marshall meatheads!! Nothing looks better than a Marshall stack on stage!! POSTED: 11/01/2006 - 05:42 pm / quote|
lamb-of-god-666
: This is a kick ass amp and sounds great for the price. POSTED: 11/15/2006 - 06:00 pm / quote|
No, he doesnt. He uses JCMs. He got paid by marshall to appear in ads for MGs. Please look things up before trying to act like you know about them.
For all of you wanting to buy this amp, please, save up a little more and go for an all tube amp. If you stick with guitar, you will thank yourself in the long run. The cleans are decent on these, but the distortion is really muddy. Look into a B-52 AT series amp for a reasonably priced tube amp. It may be a bit of a step up price wise, but you will love it. Tubes are also MUCH louder, my 2x12" tube is at least 2 times louder than my friends MG half stack, and his sounds terrible when cranked.
No he uses it in the studio somtimes ive seenpitures of him in a recording video with it. POSTED: 11/16/2006 - 06:50 pm / quote|
phillyguitar
: If this amp is cutting out on you, you need to get it fixed!
I've had this thing for 3 years and it has never done me wrong. It's been in vans, dragged around everywhere, it's got nicks to prove it. Never once have I had to even think of repairing it. Marshall makes some of the best amps so check this thing out, you can't really get much better at this price POSTED: 11/29/2006 - 09:59 am / quote|
ponnightingale
: im a dud!
do you still have to buy a seperate amp for this or no? meh ive only got a marshall 10watt amp see? POSTED: 12/10/2006 - 12:11 pm / quote|
TheDev01dOne
: I bought this amp around 4 months ago and I agree with most people here. It is definately the best amp init's price range, by FAR. Of course it's not as good as a JCM or Mesa Boogie. But not everyone can afford to spend 6 months pay on a guitar amp.
It is loud and has a GREAT clean tone. I prefer a pedal for distortion though. If this is your price range I would definately recommend buying this amp. POSTED: 12/14/2006 - 01:21 am / quote|
rockdude_2008 :
i was gonna buy this but everyone told me it sucked, wow differnces in opinions on ultimate-guitar.com
whoever told you that is a moron, this amp is one of the best issued by marshall. dont let the cheap price fool you man...go out and get it. Ive had this amp for six months and it has never let me down unlike the tube amps ive used forever. POSTED: 12/14/2006 - 04:34 pm / quote|
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