MG50DFX Review

Twin footswitchable channels ? Clean and Overdrive. Independent tone controls for Bass and Treble on each channel. Contour Control for dramatic mid sweep and "scooping".

Features:	8.4
Sound:	7.9
Reliability:	8.8
Impression:	8.4
Overall rating:	8.4
Users rating:	7
Comments:	83

overall: 10

Featured review by: kiefermatot, on december 26, 2005

Purchased from: Music Depot

Features: I play metal, nu-metal, punk and emo, and this 50 watt amp sounds amazing. It comes with a footswitch for the clean and overdrive channels, and for the effects. The only downer about it, is the footswitch can't switch off the reverb. This amp has many knobs to get the right sound you want. It's effects are chorus/delay, delay, chorus, and flanger. The amp also allows you to change the tones on both channels separately. This amp is loud, and will blow anything away. And there are also a few presets in the booklet. // 10

Sound: I use this amp with a BC Rich Warlock. And I play metal, nu-metal, puk and emo, and this amp sounds awesome. It suits my styles percectly. I also love how it does not hum at all. The clean channel sounds amazing. It's nice and warm, and you can also turn the clean channel gain up to get a chrunchy sound. The distortion is great. I really love this amp. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This amp is awesome. It is nice and loud, and I would use it at a gig without a backup. the amp is solid, and it can take a beating. // 10

Impression: This is the best amp I have ever owned. If it were stolen, I would hunt down the guy who did it, skin him, and throw him in a pile of salt. I really like the clean channel. WIth the chorus it has an amazing sound. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Xenn99, on may 15, 2006

Features: This amp has a 12" speaker, two channels (clean and overdrive), five effects options (Chorus/Delay, Delay, Chorus, Flange, Reverb), FDD (Frequency Dependent Dampening), CD ins, emulated line out, and emulated headphone jacks. It also has a footswitch to change channels and turn on effects. I play a lot of different genres. Mainly alternative and punk, but I also play blues, Indie, and even metal now and then. So far, I've been able to get any sound I want from this amp. I haven't found a genre it doesn't do well with. The effects are great-I use the delay and chorus/delay all the time. The chorus effect could be a bit better, but it's good enough to use. I don't use the flange a whole lot, as it doesn't suit my style of playing, but when I have used it it sounds good. The reverb is good as well-it adds a nice effect when added to regular playing. I always keep it set on 2-3 for normal playing, and 5-8 if I want to add a really noticeable echo. // 9

Sound: I use this amp with my Washburn WI14 guitar. It just has the basic stock pickups in it, but still, when I play it through this amp it makes it sound tremendously better. Before it really sounded like a "beginner" guitar through my 15w practice amp, but now it actually sounds good. Like I mentioned above, I play a lot of alternative and punk stuff. It sounds great for both, along with any other style I play. From what I've noticed, it's not too noisy. I don't know what people are talking about when they mention the fan being too loud. I can't hear then fan at all. The only time I've noticed anything is when distortion is set to 10. Then there is a buzz. Not a big deal though. The clean channel is really nice. You can get a lot of tones from it-anywhere from warm and full to a sharp country twang. The distortion is great. I had to buy a distortion pedal with my old amp to get it to sound decent, but this one doesn't even need it. You can have sharp, biting distortion, to blasting metal. The contour knob adds a lot of tone variation as well. This amp is also LOUD. I keep the volume at 1 for indoor practice. The highest I've had it up is 5, and my ears were ringing for about an hour afterward. The clean channel stays clean as well. I've had it up just as high and it has stayed crystal clear. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I wouldn't have a problem playing a small gig with this amp. It is plenty loud enough and hasn't had a single problem yet. It seems well built. I haven't really had it long enough to know how it holds up over time, but it does have a 3 year service warranty and 5 year parts warranty, so if something does go wrong, it can be fixed. // 9

Impression: This amp can take anything I throw at it. I can get the tones I want and not have to constantly be messing with the dials. I compared it to other amps in the price range that I could find. A Crate 60w and a Vox Valvetronix 100w. The Crate sounded very muddy to me and in general just didn't impress me at all. The Vox was good, but it seemed like it did a lot of things decently, but none particularly well. It also seemed very cheap (dials had already broken off at the store I tried it at). I tried this amp expecting it to be garbage like so many people say. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up buying it. If it were stolen I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. It's a great amp for practicing at home or band practice, and even small gigs. It fits my needs perfectly as it is, and I would recommend that people look into them and try them out. // 9

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: GuitaPlaya, on august 06, 2005

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: The amp has two channels, 4 digital effects (chorus/delay, delay, chorus, and flanger) plus reverb, and a comes with a foot switch that can switch the effects on and off and the channel (not the reverb). The amp has a good amount of knobs to get the right sond you want on over drive or the clean tone and both sound good even with my crappy Squier. The manuel tells you a few settings and how they should sound and the classic cruch sounds great for my style which is alternative/punk. I play in a band, only two practices though, and the amp definetly gets loud enough and sounds great with the original songs we play. // 8

Sound: The amp sounds very nice on clean or distortion but you can't get a soft distortion for blues but I don't really play blues so it doesn't matter. When you turn the countour down and the distortion up the amp hums really loud but thats probably because of my crappy Squier. At Guitar Center I plugged this into a Gibson SG Special and it sounded 1000 times better than my guitar. The amp sonds better when you turn it up on both channels. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I have had this amp for four months and it has broken once and it had a problem when a first bought it. But probably just because of bad luck. I haven't played any gigs yet but I don't think I would play any gig w/o a back up. // 6

Impression: I tested out a few other amps after it broke to see if any others in the price range sounded good but I wasn't satisfied with them. I tested a Fender Princeton that hummed super loud, a Crate which was ok, and a AD50VT Vox. But none sounded a sounded as good as the MG50DFX. Good clean tone and great distortion. The one knock is that you can't flip the reverb on and off. But before you buy this amp make sure nothing is wrong with the fan, when I first got it it sounded like something was flapping against it. Best amp in the price range. // 10

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: ssshaun, on may 03, 2006

Price paid: $ 600

Purchased from: dont remember what store

Features: I got this amp back in 2001 I believe and it was great and reliable, key word was. It has 2 channels, 4 effects and has plenty of power. Enough to make your walls rumble and yes even a window crack (known from experience). It has great sound on clean, and its overdrive is wicked. // 9

Sound: I used this amp with my charvel/jackson 92 custom, my Epiphone Les Paul Custom, and used to play it with my Eric Clapton signature strat. It suits whatever I play with the help of an effects pedal it can pretty much play anything. It can crank up pretty high and doesnt hum but if you have it near a wall (about 2 feet away) you can hear the fans air coming back off the wall. My clean channel was not distorted at high volumes it stayed clean throughout, and the distortion can play some heavy heavy stuff. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I use this at home and at small jam sessions, and a few little gigs with about 30 friends, and another one was in front of about 1300 people over the course of 2 hours. It didn't fail at all during that gig. It was fine but I fried a chip in it after about 5 years and the chip is being replaced as we speak. The amp was stuck in overdrive and if you kicked over to clean it wouldnt work and overdrive sounded crunchy no matter what you did to it. Other than that it has been great to me. Because of the reliablity in playing in front of that many people and not failing during gigs its still getting a 10 because it took it 5 years to break down and it wasnt even completly. // 10

Impression: I play a range from classic rock to metal and this could pump out whatever I could throw at it. I've been playing for about 6 years on and off and even after breaking my wrist and fracturing my forearm and it hadnt been used in a year and was covered in dust I turned it on and it purred like a kitten. If it were lost or stolen I would probably buy a different one because it just wouldnt be the same to me. I love the clean channel nice and crisp at all levels for me. I hated when my chip blew out and I was stuck in crunch overdrive so you might as well make good use with it. I wish the pedal had more features on it. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on april 27, 2005

Price paid: $ 150

Purchased from: Hermes Music

Features: This amp is awesome. This amp features clean, overdrive, flange, chorus, delay, and reverb. It has a headphone jack that I use when my folks are asleep but other than that its loud, heavy music from me, which this amp is great for. This amp is good for practice, warm-up, or beginners like myself who have been playing for less than a year and a half. // 10

Sound: I only use a crappy first act I got for christmas a while back so the pickups aren't that great. But it still sounds great even with a crappy guitar. This suits my hard rock style very well, the distortion is great when the volume is cranked up. But the clean can get slightly distorted when turned up all the way. // 10

Reliability & Durability: My amp has never broken down so I guess I would depend on it for gigs. When my band jams I use this amp and it cranks out great sound all the time. // 10

Impression: This is great for all styles of music. Since I've only played for about a year and a half I think its great for beginners. If it got stolen I'd definately buy it again but watch better. My personal favorite feature is the overdrive because I play heavy music. // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: ZigZag667, on march 25, 2009

Price paid: A$ 500.00

Purchased from: Rockshop

Features: This amp is well suited for me and my playing style as it is a suitable size for jamming out but it can be gigged with on smaller scale venues without micing up. It has a clean and over Drive mono chanels with a footswitch to change between the two and the preset effects, it also has a FDD button to mimic a valve amp sound which doesnt't't sound too bad. The preset effects it comes with aren't really that useful as they are really vague in terms of setting them up so I would rather use independant pedals/stomp boxes instead of the presets. I play wide varieties of music and this amp has enough power for those styles, both the clean and overdrive channels sound amazing. // 8

Sound: I am currently using standard a Squier:SE100 guitar with this amp and it does sound amazing, the only downside is a minor one and that's on the guitars behalf as the pick ups feed back on the distortion channel but other than that the amp sounds really nice. I play a significant amount of "dropped tuned" songs and it has really good reception of the lower frequencies. The distortion is very good but it is a preset so it's not amazing but for being an effect coming with the amp it sounds really good. The clean chanel stays clean until around 75% of max volume then the pick ups start to feed back into it and make it sound rather disgusting. // 9

Reliability & Durability: My amplifier hasn't seen a lot of gigs but it certainly seems to withstand the odd beating for instruments etc. Falling on it. There have been no troubles with it so far and I've been using it nearly everyday for the last 4 months and I can't stop enjoying it, I would gig with this without backup because some of my friends gig with the MG150DFX and they just love it and it's caused no problem for them, therefore I'm putting my trust into Marshall for their good standard of production quality. // 9

Impression: I've been playing for nearly three years now and I've developed a wide variety in music for classical to death metal and this amp has not dissappointed me yet, if this amp was lost/stolen I would buy the same again but maybe a slightly higher power output but I would definately stick with Marshall amps. When purchasing this I was looking at the Line6 Spider III 30watt and a Marshall MG15MSII micro stack and I felt that this amp was better value for money and more suited to my needs as a player. There are only two things I wish this amp had and that is a phase shifter effect and an accoustic modeler but other than that it is a good amp and there's nothing to really hate about it other than it doesnt't have that little bit extra power but limited funds make it a very good amplifier to purchase. // 8

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: XAkitAX, on july 17, 2007

Features: This amp is very nice. 2 channels, clean and overdrive. Footswitch is included. It has another button called FDD (frequency dependent dampening), which enables you to get a tube tone or something, but I just leave it on all the time because it makes it sound great. It is solid state, with one 12" speaker. Definitely fits the styles of music I play. Stuff from jazz/classic rock to hard rock/metal. // 9

Sound: I can get some very nice tones from this. I usually play through it with my MIM Fender with a duncan hot rail in the bridge, or I use an Epi LP standard. Not noisy at all, well that's probably because I have noise cancelling pickups. The cleans are very nice and so is the OD channel, but I hardly use the OD channel since I still have all my pedals. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I would depend on it, but here on UG (UG is the only place I've heard it) everyone blasts the MG series. that's why so many people are reluctant to buy one. I was even hesitating at first, until I played one in my music store and loved it. My MG has never broken down. // 10

Impression: Like I said, I play anything from jazz/classic rock to harder rock/metal and this thing can handle it. I run either a MIM Strat with a hot rail in the bridge through it, or an Epi standard, sometimes even an acoustic or hollow body (which I can get good cleans for out of my MG). Those then sometimes go through my pedals; tuner, wah, Boss ds-1, Boss MT-2, fab chorus. If this amp were lost/stolen I would either get the same one or the MG100DFX. This is a great amp, I recommend to anyone! // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: brandnewjunkie, on june 20, 2005

Price paid: $ 300

Purchased from: Sam Ash Music

Features: This is a pretty versatile amp as far as I'm concerned. It has both a clean and overdrive channel, each with their own 3-band EQ and gain. overdrive also has its own volume control, which is nice. The built-in effects (delay/chorus, delay, chorus, and flanger) are fun to play around with, and are customizable for time and volume, but if you are serious about using effects in your music, get pedals because these are pretty limited. The fdd should always stay in and really fills out the sound. It also has an effects loop, a CD input (good for playing along with drum tracks, but CDs don't sound great through the 12" speaker), and an emulated line out/headphone jack. Oh, and the reverb sounds alright too, even though I hardly use it. // 10

Sound: I mostly play an Epiphone Les Paul, and I love the sound. I also a have a Line 6 Spider II amp, and it's gathering dust. The clean sound is great as long as the gain is set to about 2.5, which means that if you try to get really loud with it, it gets kind of nasty. The overdrive channel is great for lead or power chords, and basically sounds like you would expect a Marshall to sound. I mostly play rock, punk, and emo, and it's a great sound for those. I've played through amps in this price range where you can't get a decent distorted sound without a pedal, but this isn't like that. Sure, it doesn't have the punch that bigger amps have, but for its size it has a really thick sound. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I've had this amp about 6 months and so far, no problems. I'd definitely bring this to a gig without a backup. It's solid state, so it's pretty reliable. // 10

Impression: It's not the magic answer to everyone's needs, but it suits mine well. It's the best amp of its power and price that I've ever played through, it definitely makes a great practice amp. If it were stolen, I'd go right out and buy a new one. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: led+metallica, on january 31, 2008

Price paid: $ 350

Features: It's a 50 watt combo solid state amp with a 12 inch speaker. 2 footswtichable channels: clean and overdrive. There are four built in footswitchable effects: chorus, delay, flanger and a mixture of delay and flanger. It also has reverb but it is not footswitchable. The two channels are pretty versatile and they cover my needs pretty nicely. One thing I'd like to say is that is very very loud. It's louder than my MS-4 when it's at full and this on one! Couln't jam with my friends because of that the other day! The FDD Switch is a great thing. I don't how it exactly works but it makes the sound brighter, louder and more pleasing. // 9

Sound: I'm using this amp with a Fernandes HSS strat. I don't know the model but it's not really a good guitar but this amp really makes it sound almost proffesional. My music style is classic rock (Zeppelin, Sabbath, Deep Purple) and metal (Metallica, Pantera, Slayer). This amp covers all the styles. I first thought that Marshall was more mellow but this has certainly changed my opinion. The recommended setting didn't suit me but after about an hour of tweaking I found the right tone. First of all the clean channel. I think this a great channel. You can really get a lot of tones from really dark to very bright. Some might find it dull but once you add in reverb it's magic. The chorus effect also works really well with this. The gain control isn't very effective to be honest. Even when I have it fully cranked it can't get my tone to break. When used my friends emg 81 equipped dime it broke up a little but just a hint. The distortion channel is where the main magic lies. At lower gain setting and with the guitars volume turned down you can get a really sweet blues break up. Crank it about 4 and youve got a perfect rock n roll tone. At 7 you get a really brutal distortion. It's enought for me to play master of puppets. After that it gets really bizzare. It's good for tapping and stuff but you have to be careful since they slight touch to a string makes really loud sound. I think that it sounds best when the master volume is above 4 otherwise it very compressed. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This amp is built like a tank. The knobs seem really strong but time will tell since I've only had for a week. I would definatly gig without a backup because I can't even imagine this amp going out or breaking down. Some people complain about the fan breaking down but it's seems super to me. It's just slightly audible when you are not playing and it doensn't have a harsh sound either. // 10

Impression: This was a really good match for me. I have been playing for a year using an MS-4 until now. I debated for three months before finally buying this and I'm glad I did. If this was stolen I would cry for days and then if I ever saw the thief, I would kill hime on the spot. The FDD swich is my favourite feature and I always have it turned on. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: teeej78, on february 29, 2008

Purchased from: Guitar.co.uk

Features: My 50 watt Marsh was built in 2006 in India. I've been using it solidly since I bought it in late 2007 and I have gigged it a couple of times. I was put off buying it due to the fact that it is not a tube or valve Marshall but was surprised by the quality of the FDD feature. It has the standard channels: clean and overdrive with seperate EQs for each. I have also made use of the DFX features which includes delay, chorus, delay/chorus and flanger effects. It has one input, one emulated line out (headphones), footswitch, Effects in/out, CD in and external speaker. There is sufficient power behind the sound to carry it round most halls and more than enough to record on. // 9

Sound: I use a Squier Standard Telecaster (single coils) with my Marsh and it sounds amazing on the clean channel. It really suits my jazz and blues playing. You can get a real crisp sound or smooth deep sound depending on how you set the EQ. I found a great sound for stumming chords whilst using my neck pickup. In overdrive the gain is either on or off; you can't get a low gain sound that you may find in some modern Indie tracks. But the distortion is well and truly brutal. Perfect for punk, metal, rock or anything nice and heavy. The FDD button really 'beefs' up the sound and recreates a tube Marsh well. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I had an incident several days ago where the amp fell out the back of the van. Despite a few scratches, the amp plays exactly like it did when I got it out the box. No problems whatsoever. I could gig to my heart's content and the backup would just gather dust. // 10

Impression: I've not been playing long but this amp is a perfect match for my varied styles of playing. I know I can trust that I will find my desired sound somewhere within this amp. If it were stolen I would probably buy the same amp because having used an MG100DFX I feel the extra 50 watts is unnecerssary. I really love the FDD feature and would recommend to anyone. // 9

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: leviticus_22953, on may 26, 2008

Price paid: $ 400

Purchased from: JB Music Philippines

Features: This amp was made in Indonesia. It's a solid state, 50 watts with built in digital effects and 12" Celestion speakers. It's pretty versatile cause you can get clean sounds, blues crunch, 70's rock kinda sound and nu-metal tones. the digital effects include delay, delay + chorus, chorus and flanger. It has two footswitchable channels, an effects loop, headphone jack and line out. it also has reverb but you cannot turn it on or off with the footswitch, which is my main problem with this amp. it also has the FDD (frequency dependent dampening) Switch which makes the amp sound better & louder. // 9

Sound: I use an RG321MH with stock pickups. I play mostly heavy rock, acoustics, blues, alternative rock, jazz and a little bit of everything else. I have to say the cooling fan is a bit noisy but as you crank up the amp, it's not noticeable. the cleans sound amazing. I can get clear tones from the clean channel with the right EQ. I have the gain at 5, bass at 6, mid at 5-7 and treble at 8-10. The overdrive/distortion channel can be muddy at first, but again, with the right EQ, it's not that bad. don't set all the knobs to 10 or else it will get muddy. I set the gain at 8-9, bass at 7-8, contour at 7-8 and treble at 8-10. I can get good 70's roick tones and metal tones out of this. it's nice to have built in digital effects. I play with these effects and I really like the delay and flanger. the reverb is okay, I guess. with amazing cleans and good distortion at the right EQ, this amp is not as bad as they say. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I have gigged with this, as this is my only amp loud enough for gigs. I have gigged with this a lot of times and it has never let me down. Although right now, the footswitch is not working properly, it's still useable. The amp itself has never broken down, not once. // 9

Impression: As I have written earlier, I play mostly rock and heavy rock, alternative, metal and acoustics. it's a good match for my playing styles. I've been playing for about 4 years and this is my 2nd amp. I had no regrets when I bought this amp. Although many people say it's crap, with the right settings, this amp is the opposite of what they say. if it were lost or stolen, I'd look for it definitely. Or buy a tube half-stack. Over-all, a good amp. // 9

overall: 6.5

Reviewed by: Random3, on december 05, 2008

Purchased from: Ebay

Features: I bought this amp pre owned from Ebay about a year ago. The previous owner had it for about 6 months but barely used it. The amp is not really suited to my style (heavy metal) but it does sound ok with a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone pedal. It has two footswitchable channels, 4 effects that can be used independantly, reverb which can be used on top of any one of the 4 effects (sadly reverb is not footswitchable). There are no effects loops, although there is a headphone jack and line in socket. I use all of the features at some point, apart from the awful overdrive channel which is beyond terrible, so I keep it on clean then use my Metal Zone pedal. I mainly use this amp at home and it is pretty much perfect for home use, although I am getting more into playing as a band and therefore I will soon be saying goodbye to my MG. // 6

Sound: Most of my time using the MG I have been using an American Stratocaster with single coil pickups, but more recently I have used a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser with EMG 81/85. The sound without any additional pedals is very mediocre on the overdrive channel, however the cleans (with both guitars) are very good, and sound great with reverb/effects. The amp can be cranked up a fair bit, but anything beyond about half volume gives a LOT of feedback and isnt really worth going that high due to the amount of fuzz. The amp isnt too versatile, it has two channels and a total of 5 effects so there aren't too many combinations. I would not even dream of using this amp without some form of distortion pedal, although people Who do not play metal may not need one. // 5

Reliability & Durability: The amp is very durable, I have knocked it and hit it (by accident) a fair number of times and it still works as if it was new. The fan can be quite noisy for the first minute or so after switching on, but soon dies down. I have never had any problems with it regarding reliability, when I want to use it it works. simple as. // 8

Impression: I play different styles of heavy metal (thrash, death, melodic, metalcore) and for a beginners practice amp I would say this is an average choice, but I would urge someone looking for a quality amp to look elsewhere. I have been playing properly for about 6 years but I had about a 3 year gap in between then and now so atual experience I would say no more than 2 and a half years. I am glad I purchased this amp as it was no more or less than I needed at the time, but as I am getting more serious I am going to move on from my MG. I like the reliability of the amp, and the effects are pretty good on some settings, although the sound on it's own is mediocre at best. If it were stolen or lost I would not buy it again, I would clam insurance and put the money towards a bigger, better amp. Overall I would say this is a good practice amp, but not ideal for gigging, and not even very ideal for band playing. // 7

overall: 8

Reviewed by: fyrefish, on may 07, 2009

Price paid: C$ 250.00

Purchased from: Long and McQuade

Features: This amp is a 50 watt solidstate Marshall, with clean and overdrive, four effects built in, (delay, chorus+delay, chorus, flanger) digital reverb, full equalizers, comes with a footswitch for channel select and toggle FX on and off. It also features a CD-in mono input, and effects in/out, plus it is expandable. I've used pretty much every feature this amp has, and all the effects, andi just wish that there was a reverb Switch on the footswitch too, and that the effects selection knob clicked or something so you can tell which effet your on without having to closley look at the lines. It has a hell of a lot of power, altough it does have a little too much bass; feedback on the low strings when the volume is high can really shake the walls. I have to this day never maxed the volume because at gigs I havn't needed to, and I wouldn't try it in my house (we have a lot of paintings on the walls lol) // 8

Sound: I am using an Epiphone SG wiht cheap stock humbs in it, and unfortunatley, the distortion on the amp is on the muddy side, so the pickups don't help, but by having the mids at about halfway, the tone is preety clean and crunchy. I play classic rock, and classic metal, so this amp is reasnobale for those purposes, although it's suited better for modern music. One thing that's great is that with the flange, I get a sound very similar to Alex Lifeson, so that's a plus (because I play Rush) the only noise it really makes is the fan, but if you're playing at even a moderate volume, there's no way you can hear it, so whatever. The variety of sounds is preety great with the equalizers, and I've found that even various levels of gain and mids really changes the sound considerably. The clean channel starts to distort at half gain, and the distortion is quite a beast a max. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I can definetly depend on this amp, I've had it for 8 months, used it at variuos gigs, smashed into various walls and such, and it's still in perfect condish, so I would not need a back-up. The only thing is that when I first got it, there was a problem with the distortion channel (no volume) so I got it replaced, but that would count as a manufacturing defect. // 9

Impression: I play classic rock and classic metal, and for that purpose its just fine, I also have crybaby classic wah, and a Godin SD, I'be been playing for 1 year and a half. I wish I had more knowledge of tone and amps when i bough this, as I probably would have preferred a tube amp, even if it was smaller. I don't regret buying this though, it's a solid amp. If it were stolen, i'd most likely try something else, but just to mix it up (probably a Fender tube or Crate) I love thats it's a Mrashall, but I hate that it's an MG, just because everyone bashes them. Overall though, I like my amp, and at the every least, the Big Curly Marshall signature always impresses people. // 8

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Sasms, on march 03, 2009

Purchased from: Allens

Features: This 2 channel amp is a great amp for the style I play. I play metalcore and deathmetal and although I need to use a distorsion pedal through it to get that extra gain, it pumps it out as loud as I need, that being said, the clean channel is the best I've ever played out of. There are lots of effects that sound really good and so much there is also so much control over both the clean and distortion channels. It also comes with a footswitch with channel and effects buttons. This amp is so powerful, I havnn't even heard it with full volume just because it's loud enough half way! I can also practice at night with it because it has a headphone input. // 9

Sound: I use a stock Ibanez SA220FM through a Boss metal-core ML2 pedal for (as I said before) metalcore and deathmetal. The distortion on the amp actually sounds really good for other types of metal because of the contour control, you can get a really scooped sound. It is a pretty quite amp and with all the effects it comes with (Delay, Reverb, Chorus and Flanger) you can get basically any sound you want. It sounds really good up loud but for the genre I play, the distortion just wasn't good enough. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The amp is a solid box, it really is a heavy amp. I would definately use it on a gig without a back-up. It has never broken down and I have used it for a few gigs (I even piled smaller amps on top of it at one gig) and it still works fine. I've owned it for 2 years now and I've never had a single problem with it. I'd probaly even leave it in the back of my car and not worry about it getting stolen because it's so heavy and the theif would have a hard time trying to run down the street with it. // 10

Impression: Overall, the best thing I like about this amp is it's clean channel. It sounds really good with lots of reverb and delay or chorus. Also the convenience of a footswitch is just perfect for Live gigs. I would definately get this amp again it got stolen, but I would definately also look around at other amps first. I got this amp because it was offered at half price (aussie dollars) and I had the MG15 previously and it served me pretty well. The only thing I could have asked for is more distortion! // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on january 16, 2009

Price paid: $ 350

Purchased from: Music N' More

Features: I love this amp. It's the first amp I've owned past the crappy Fender amp that comes with the strat squire starter kit, and It sounds amazing. I play a lot of different genres (from All That Remains to Metallica to Secondhand Serenade to Green Day to Steve Vai to Pantera) and no matter what sound I am looking for, I can Always find it almost perfectly with a little adjustment of dials. Some of the features include a footswitch for changing channels during play, although it would be nice if the footswitch turned reverb on and off (as someone else mentioned in another review.) It has four effects (I don't use them very often, but I've played around with them and I really like them): Chorus, Flanger, Chorus/Delay, and Delay. It also has a headphone jack for those midnight jam sessions when everyone else is sleeping. A cool feature is that you can plug CD players or ipods into it and play along with your favorite tracks. // 10

Sound: This amp suits any music style that I've tried it with so far. The variety is incredible. From the cleanest of tones to the heaviest, nastiest distortion, it can do it all. Currently, I am playing with a Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR with EMG 81/89 active pickups and although it had a great sound even with my old amp, it sounds amazing through my Marshall. The clean channel has absolutely no background noise and the slight fuzz in the background of the distortion channel disappears once you start playing. The reverb sounds incredible, giving whatever your playing an awesome echoey sound. When turned up past 6, the reverb makes it sound like you're playing in a stadium. Also, if you're looking for volume, you'll find it in this amp. Cranked up to about 3 or 4, this beast shakes the floor. Althoug, it can be quiet enough to practice alone. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only 50 watts, it blows away my friends 100 watt Line 6 and sounds better too. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had this amp long enough to determine how long it'll really last, but it seems pretty durable. It's really a solid amp. The only problem I've had so far is carrying it from place to place, but that wouldn't be difficult for anyone with muscle mass. // 10

Impression: I think, overall, this is a pretty perfect amp. It can suit any style at all it seems, and along with my Schecter it sounds incredible. I really have no complaints about it or any regrets in buying it before asking questions. If stolen or lost, I would do Everything in my power to get another. // 10

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: Slash_93, on december 26, 2007

Price paid: $ 491.4

Purchased from: Music Factory

Features: The Marshall MG50DFX is a solid state 50 watt amp and has two channels: Clean and Overdrive. The Overdrive channel is very versatile and satisfies perfectly the styles of music that I play (I play Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, Metallica, AC/DC and Red Hot). The effects are Chorus/Delay, Delay, Chorus, Flanger and an excellent Reverb, it also has a Frequency Damping Dependency or something like that. I don't know what it does, I only know that it sounds much better with it turned on. The amp comes with a footswitch which allows you to change channels and turn the effects on/off, however, it doesn't work with the Reverb. It is a very loud amp, so the volume is never a problem. // 7

Sound: As far as I'm concerned, the main sound characteristic of the amp is it's distortion. With it you can play virtually any music that has distortion, which is great for me because it's exactly what I play. The clean sound is also really good, not as much versatile as the overdrive but still very good, and it sounds wonderful with Reverb. In my opinion, the main problem of this amp is that it's hard to get a sound between clean and distortion, the clean channel isn't distorted at high volumes and the only way to put the clean sound a bit distorted is to low the guitar's volume and also the gain setting in the overdrive channel. I have a Fender Standard Stratocaster and it sounds amazing. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I admit that I've never done a gig with this amp, I only bought it last week but I'm sure it would sound wonderful even without a backup. It has never broken down, however, it has already fallen down my bed (I know it's not a big fall) but it still sounds as good as new. // 7

Impression: As I've mentioned, the amp perfectly suits my style of music and is a good match with my Fender Stratocaster. If it were stolen or lost I would probably buy it again because I just love it's distortion sounds and it's not very big so it's quite 'transportable' (sorry for my english, I'm portuguese). I only wish that it had a way to achieve a sound between Overdrive and Clean, but, in conclusion, I think it's worth the price I've paid. // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on september 11, 2008

Price paid: £ 163

Purchased from: Guitar Amp Keyboard

Features: The amp was buit in 08 and is versatile enough to play any thingfrom soft jazz to crushing heavy metal. personally I play indie/altrnative and metal core. I play in d standard and it sounds briliant, anything can be acheive from sing ing harmonic structures to bowel releasing crunches.the amp has an input and head phone jack(front) and a foot switch, fx in, fx out power and loudspeaker input and bundeled with a foot Switch and fx loop switch. I wish it was light er so I could carry it to school and band practise as it weighs around 20kg ummm I can't think of any thing else I would need. I can hear it fine in my room(well Duh) I haven't takin it to practise yet but if my Micro Cube is loud enough this surely is fine. It s got 1 1*12 speaker, solid state. // 10

Sound: I use it with the bridge pickup of my legacy les paul. And it handles metalcore fine without cracking under distortion and sounds perfect clean. It's sound isnt too different between volume settings and is varied in sound I can nail a Trivium tone or a rollings stones tone and put flange chorus or delay and then reverb. Cleanly it's not too distrted at full vol but not as clarified. The distortion at full is crushing it rattlles my tv! // 9

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had it too long but my mate has the same amp from the same place for 1 year and has played 30+ gigs and he swears by it. I would have to depend on it as I only have a Micro Cube. I'll give it a five for having it 5 minutes(not literally) but if it's fine after 6 months I'll rereview it. // 5

Impression: As I've said metal core to Indie is what I play and it handle s perfectly. I've been playing 1 year and my rig is legacy les paul and a Micro Cube, I knew what this amp had to offer me and I'd checked similar products and nothing had this value for price. If this was nicked I'd check ebay and get the police or check what the warranty enquires or get a bigger amp, perhaps a Randall? I love it's diversity and hi gain tone I love the way the delay boosts the solo and makes riff defied (delay- best) I compared it to Vox and a Randall but I could buy two marshalls for their prices. Ps I love the fact that it says Marshall in the pure white on th e front love it! // 10

overall: 8.3

Reviewed by: ^Slash^, on june 07, 2006

Purchased from: Long & McQuades

Features: I don't know what year the MG50DFX was made, but I think it's a newer series. The amp is fine for the styles I play. It has two channels. Clean and overdrive. It has built in effects so you don't need a pedal which is great for beginers. It has an effects loop and headphone jack. I wish the clean channel was less crunchy. This amp isnt great on the clean channel, I feel it can get to distroted. It's an alright beginner amp, but I wouldn't recomend this amp. I use this for my room, and to jam. It can be quiet enough, and loud enough to jam with. // 8

Sound: I use a MRW copy Les Paul. The amp can play the styles I like to play like Zep, GN'R, Sabbath to an extent. But it's fine for now. It can get noisy on the clean channel, and does sound so natural like I thought it shud. The clean channel I find can get distorted at high volumes which is a crappy asset. The distortion I find is the only great thing for this amp. The overdrive I think is stunning. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I would gig with this without a back up no problem. Never had a problem with it, and dropped it a few times. // 10

Impression: I play from a variety blues, rock, metal. And I find can play them fine. I've been playing for about 7 months. I wish I found about the JCM series or went with a different solid state amp. If it were stolen or lost I wud prolly buy a different amp. I love how it has a great price, and the distortion. I hate the clean on the amp though. Its a fine beginner amp. But anyone who has gone through their first amp dont bother. // 8

overall: 8

Reviewed by: Coolvortex, on june 20, 2005

Price paid: $ 504

Features: This amp is a 1x12" solid state 50watt combo. It has two footswitchable channels (the footswitch is included in the package), clean and overdrive, both with their gain knob and equalization knobs. The overdrive channel has the contour knob instead of mids, which, as the instruction booklet and the site say, affects your sound really much, and, in my opinion, even too much. Also, the overdrive channel has a volume knob, which doesn't just change how loud your sound is, but makes your sound better as you choose a higher value. Then there's a master volume knob, which is the real volume control in the amp and affects both your clean and overdrive channel. Keep it low if you're practicing at home! Another really interesting function is the digital effects. There are four different digital effects, chorus, delay, chorus+delay and phaser. Only one effect at time can be used, and through the effect selection knob you can choose the "strenght" of the effect (for example, for chorus, you can go from a reverb-like sound to a continous, strong vibrato), and through the FX level knob you can choose how much it will affect your tone. The digital effect are footswitchable too, but you are only able to switch on or off the effect you've chosen through the knob.

There's another digital effect too, which has it's own knob but is not footswitchable, and it is the reverb. Another function is this FDD, that is, frequency dependent damping, that should emulate, through a circuitry, the sound of a tube amp. I say this is the most useless function in the amp, since all it does, to me, is just make the amp louder. It seems to me like it's all an excuse from Marshall to make this amp stand out of the crowd. And this amp actually stands out of the crowd, but not because of the FDD. If you'll get this amp, you'll definitely find yourself with this function always on, since with this function off the amp just seems to have less volume. Other functions are a line out/headphones plug, an FX loop, and a CD in on the back to practice with your favourite songs but which is kinda useless since the guitar sound tends to cover the music. Overall, the features of this amp are good and its power suits me and my needs, as it is loud enough for a 50 watt solid-state, at least more than most. // 8

Sound: Now about the sound. I'm not saying this amp has a bad sound. I'm saying I've been lucky finding an amp with this sound, since it suits my style and my taste perfectly. I mostly play Iron Maiden, The Darkness, Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, and also some Poison, Bon Jovi, Sum 41, Europe, when I'm not with my band. As you can see, the guitarists in these band all have different tones and sounds, but their level of distortion is all similar. And it's possible, on the Marshall MG50DFX, to find a sound similar to Slash's (consider the fact that I have a Les Paul, it's an Epiphone but still a Les Paul) or Adrian Smith's, and don't get me wrong, it's doesn't sound crap, it's amazingly similar. Also, using the contour knob, you can get a really good nu metal sound for bands like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and System of a down. I don't like that stuff anymore, but, if someone playing this stuff wants to get a MG50, I want to tell him/her that this is the right amp. But this amp has a serious problem: the gain of the overdrive channel. No matter what, you can't get a crunchy sound out of this amp, or a light distortion.

The gain on the clean channel isn't enough powerful to get it, and the gain on the overdrive channel seems too powerful, even at level 1. This is my main problem with this amp, since, when I'm playing with my band, I can always find the right sound for solos or heavier songs, but I can't find the right tone for crunchy rythms and such. About the clean channel, well, there's not much to say. Using the gain and the equalization knobs you can get a variety of different clean tones, even if not too many. Using the clean channel with a slight chorus effect and reverb is really great, and I'd dare to say one of the best clean sounds I've heard. So overall, this amp has actually a good sound, very different from most solid states and somehow similar to tube amps, but it isn't versatile enough. You just get black or white, and not what's in the middle, if you get what I mean. Because I know that an amp, especially a Marshall, has to be versatile and ready for every kind of player, I give it a 3, but remember, if you play heavy metal, nu metal or hard rock, or every kind of music which has highly distorted guitars, it's a 5. // 6

Reliability & Durability: I've played a small gig (like 100 people) with this amp, and it didn't give any problems. I would use it without a backup for sure, since it's very reliable, and it's built like a rock. The amp has never broken but I've only had it for two weeks. // 10

Impression: Well, what to say more. I love this amp, but I can't give it a good rating, because not everyone plays what I play, and most people need a good variety of sounds. But talking for myself, I have everything I want: a good highly distorted sound, sound effects (I use chorus a lot for cleans, and sometimes for solos, it gives them a futuristic, 80s sound; it's very reactive and good for tapping, and the sound is not too harsh like it is in other solid states. Also, as I've said before, it's really loud for an amp of this kind. I just wish it was more versatile so I could get more sounds out of it, but I still have my DigiTech RP50. So, if you want to buy this, consider the style you play, you could either get a great amp or a crap amp, depending on your tastes and styles. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 17, 2005

Price paid: $ 434.5

Purchased from: Long & Mcquade

Features: I bought this amp just recently, and I've had it for about a week. It has two channels, and it came with a footswitch, which can come in handy. It has 4 effects, delay w/chorus, delay, chorus, and flanger. The effects are ok, but I barely use em. It has also CD jack and something called FDD. I'm not sure wat this does, even after reading the instructions, but I tried it, and it seemsto make it louder. // 8

Sound: This amp cna get an ok distortion sound. If you crank it all the way. I play hardcore and classic rock with a tiny bit of punk. It suits me fine for my classic stuff, and gets by for my hardcore stuff. If I wanted to make it better, I would just buy a Boss pedal instead of getting a new amp. There's one problem with the distortion though. Whenever cranked up loud (which I need to get a good hardcore rock sound) it makes some buzzing. Not a lot, but not a little either. It's better than my old one (which was a Fender Frontman 25R) however I can live with it. The clean channel for me is fine, though I've heard stories from people about it being s--t. // 8

Reliability & Durability: Even though I've had this for a week, I'de say it will last. I've heard stories of Marshall amps easily being blown (which my friend did) but I've cranked up the volume several times to play with my band, and besides a little buzzing, it was fine. I probably wouldn't gig with it, as at the moment, I have only had it for a week. But time will tell. // 8

Impression: Overall, it suits my style definetly, as I can get an ok distorted sound. I been playing a year and a bit, and this kills my old Fender amp. If it were lost or stolen, I would either buy it again, or get a line six, as my guitarist has one, and so far I like that one too. I guess I chose Marshall, because like many, it was the big brand name that drew me to it. I think its a good amp, despite it downs, it has its ups. If I were to add to it, it would definately be a distortion pedal, which might give me the right sound I'm looking for. // 8

overall: 7.5

Reviewed by: Zavorash, on june 06, 2005

Price paid: $ 300

Purchased from: Local Guitar Retailer

Features: This amp was made in 2004. It has a good number of controls to customize both the overdrive and clean channels and comes equipped with several digital effects. FDD, a feature that is supposed to replicate a tube amp, is built in (with an on/off switch), but really it's best to just leave it on all the time. I use my MG mostly for bedroom practice (and my friends like to use it as a chair - it's also very sturdy) so the power is more than adequate. // 10

Sound: And here is where the amp begins to come up short. Playing with a Schecter E/A, both channels (clean and overdrive) are, well, mediocre. Not what one would suspect from such an esteemed brand as Marshall. However, the fact remains that the clean sound can get a little muddy and the overdrive is just not very substantial. With lots of gain dialed in, the sound completely loses its personality and is accompanied by a fair amount of buzzing. Under the proper settings, this amp can achieve a decent crunch, warm blues tone, and a nice lead but none of which blow me away. The sound leaves a bit to be desired. // 6

Reliability & Durability: So far, this amp has proven to be a rock. Now, I've only had it for 6 months, but it shows no signs of wear and tear. I use it every day for (at the very least) an hour and my friends like to sit on it. But, (and there are a lot of buts with this amp) I've read a lot of negative reviews regarding the fan making excessive noise and dying and the sound blowing out. Of course, I have yet to experience any of this (and hope I never will). // 8

Impression: I've been playing for about two years, but I've been a busy little bee (online and hands-on research of gear, music theory, classical, technique refinement, etc etc) and I like to think that I know my stuff. I play mostly metal, classic rock, and blues and this amp does an ok job keeping up. The features are nice and it's very durable, but the fact of the matter is that the sound just isn't stellar. I use a Schecter E/A, so I can't blame the sound on a crappy guitar (even with the Duncan Designed stock pickups, the Schecter is still a very nice instrument). I bought this amp back when I knew little about guitar amplification and was drawn in by the big Marshall lettering on the front. Honestly, I can't recommend this amp. It's not bad, but why settle for mediocrity when you can get a lot more bang for your buck? // 6

overall: 6

Reviewed by: daswede77, on july 29, 2008

Features: Bought a brand new 2007 LP Standard on ebay for an incredible price, this amp was included. Only bought it because the buyer wanted to sell everything. The amp has quite a few features. On the clean channel it has knobs for bass, mid, treble, and gain. same for the overdrive channel. There's also a knob for reverb. The effects included are delay, chorus, chorus+delay, and flange. There's a 2 button foot pedal included to switch channels and for effects. I do like the fact that there is a master volume control. // 7

Sound: 2007 Les Paul standard with 2 burstbuckers. I play mostly blues and rock. I haven't been playing for too long, would consider myself somewhere between beginner and intermediate. However, I could clearly tell that the sound on this amp was not good. the clean channel sounds very muddy and bassy. I tried a number of different combinations, utilising all the knobs on the amp and the two tone and two volume controls on the lp. Also tried using all 3 combinations of the 2 pickups. This amp just didn't sound right. I never could figure out what the effects were doing. The reverb is alright, nothing special. I finally found a setting that makes the guitar sound decent, but an LP should sound more than decent. I've used the guitar on an older, smaller Vox practice amp, and the sound is just much better. The distortion is also not very good. Completely drowns out anything you're playing, even with the gain turned down pretty low. Overall, not a very good sounding amp. It does get quite loud though. // 4

Reliability & Durability: Reliability and Durability: I haven't had it very long. It seems like it has sturdy construction, it's very heavy and solid, doesnt't vibrate at high volumes like some amps. It hasn't left my basement. Does have corner protectors, which I guess would come in handy. // 8

Impression: I read some reviews before I bid on the amp, this site included, and I have to say, I was quite disappointed by it. After the fact, I have found quite a few other opinions, including the forum on this site. This is just not a good amp. Don't write this review off as being just one bad experience. Do some serious research before buying one. These amps aren't good. I still would have bought it, simply because I love the guitar, but if it were lost/stolen, I most definietly would not buy it again. As a matter of fact I'm shopping for a new one right now. // 5

Reviewed by: unregistered, on april 23, 2004

Purchased from: eBay

Features: Has a decent number of features. There are 2 channels for clean and distortion, and sound effects settings aswell. You get a pedal with it, which means you can switch channels and turn effects on and off. As for effects, you get a chourus, flange and delay, and there is also a reverb control which sounds great. // 8

Sound: At the moment I have tried this with my mates Encore Strat, which has quite a nice biting clean tone on bridge pickup, and blues style fuzz on the neck. Generally though, I have been playing my BC Rich Mockingbird and Epiphone Les Paul on it, which sounds absolutley great. As of yet, I havn't had chance to really push the volume, but it seems to sound fine with little hum up to half. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I would depend on this amp, and I would use it at a gig without backup. This is quite new so it's fine, but comes with a 3 year warranty. // 8

Impression: At the moment im into ACDC and im doing covers of their songs, which it is good for... I've only been playing about 6 months but I'm a fast learner and after studying the piano for 2 years I picked it up pretty fast. I've used quite a wide range of amps, but this is the best I have used yet. I really like the overdrive on this aswell, very nice sounding and by a pickup change. Well worth getting. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: Korzack, on june 23, 2007

Price paid: $ 402.6

Purchased from: local music store (now sold up)

Features: I presume it was made in 2006 (Parts made in England, shipped & put together in India, then shipped back to England for quality control). the speaker's 4 OHMs, 2 channels (clean and overdrive), with the usual controls (but a contour on the overdrive instead of middle, which, according to the manual is something really fancy, but in experience, it refines the tone, really. On low, it sounds really raw & rough, good for rock & punk, whilst on high it's clear but brutal, which is handy for metal). Built in are a few effects (chorus, flange delay or a combo of the 3) with a level knob, a reverb knob & a button for something called frequency dependency damping or something. Put simply, it makes the tone a bit warmer & more akin to a valve amp. Came with a 2 button footswitch (channel select & effects). The weight ain't too bad at about 50 lbs. The size is more of a hindrance for carrying than the weight of it, but it's still a bugger to heft. // 9

Sound: ATM my main guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard plus (same hardware, fancy bodywork), and it's got a good sound, although it does tend to stick itself firmly into Metal. I usually have the gain semi-high about 6 or so, the bass down, the contour virtually off, the treble quite high & the same with the overdrive volume (which may explain the feedback I got as explained in reliability). After borrowing various far more expensive amps at various point in me career (think I've used about everything from a hot rod Fender to a full-on Marshall stack to a Line 6. Not a fan of Line 6), I still prefer the tone of this oft-ridiculed MG to the others. The style I play is a sort of punk, Rock N' Roll (Think Slash & Angus Young via Steve Jones (Pistols) & the Ramones, with a pinch of metallic Drive and you're there), and øt works like a treat. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I've had it for just over a year, and through regular use hasn't even considered letting go. Even challenged fate & used it for a gig after the miserly year's warranty ran out, & was fine -Easily loud enough, although it did give a bit of feedback after been turned up that bit higher than usual (think it was up to 4 or 5). The little footswitch has handled been stamped on a zillion times by varying sizes of boot & show, mainly New Rocks nowadays. // 10

Impression: When I first got given it (18th Birthday present, along with the Les Paul), it was definitely a case of 'Wow, I'm a proper guitarist now', which you get that feeling with a Marshall. Over time, that hasn't changed. Sure, so I've tried plenty of other amps, but to be fair, this thing convinced me to stay with Marshall, and after trying out the stacks, I think I'm not gonna change any time soon. My only complaint? The minor bit of hilarity their building procedure does. Surely it'd be cheaper & a better statement to have it all made at Milton Keynes? Well made in England, anyways. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on october 28, 2003

Price paid: $ 382.47

Purchased from: PMT

Features: For the price you do get a fair number of features. You can get a reasonable flange, chorus, delay and reverb out of it, but ideally, I'd have some dedicated pedals. There's a socket for a foot switch, which is always handy. the amp itslef is solid state, but it does have an fdd switch which is supposed to make it sound valvy. To be honest, it sounds pretty poor without it on and i dont really know why they botheredhaving the option to have it off. all the usual bass mid treble volume for the clan channel, but for the dirty channel instead of a mid you get a contour. Basically if you have it all the way to one side, it sounds very Acdc, whereas all the other way it sounds very fuzzy. its just about small enough to use as a practise amp but big enough to play small venues, and volume is never really a problem. // 8

Sound: At the moment im using a fat strat, and I can get a really nice distorted tone out of it just with the amp or using a jackhammer. My style varies from quiet to heavy to quiet and so on through a song, so I need quite a good heavy tone, but also quite a good clean tone which is where it falls down. Its clean tone is very mediocre but usuable. I'd rather have a Fender amp and a pedal to be honest though. // 6

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had any problems with it. There aren't any tubes to break or fail either. Mind you I have only had it for a couple of years. Time will tell... // 8

Impression: If I had the money, I'd get a slightly larger Fender amp and sell my Marshall. It's just not brilliant, but it will do for now. I've only been playing for 3 years, so I could do with something more versatile to help me find my sound. Until then I can live with it. It does look quite sexy as well. // 6

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: Nvyme, on march 16, 2006

Price paid: $ 247.0317

Purchased from: www.soundsmusical.com

Features: Made in 2005. 12" custom celestion speaker, two footswitchable channels; clean distortion (comes with a footpedal), independant tone controls on each channel (bass, middle and treble), emulated line out and headphone jack, reverb, FDD (basically makes it sound better) and 4 digital effects (all of which can be adjusted) Chorus/Delay, Chorus, Flange and Delay. Its got a good range of sounds you can create, but like others have said, you cannot change the reverb on or off using the footpedal. Another slight problem is that you cannot turn the digial effects off if you arent using the footpedal because you have to go turn the actual dial down rather than press a switch. Either way, this amp comes with a great number of features that make it well worth the money. // 9

Sound: This amp sounds amazing. If venus was screaming, thats the distortion, its perfect in almost every way. It has to be said it sounds better when the volume goes over 4 because it sounds slightly muffled to some extent. You have to let this beast free if you want to hear its true potential. In a large room it sounds amazing with extra reverb because of the way it makes the room echo (good in this case). The clean sound is not quite as gracious by its self, but if you add some flange and chorus effects it starts to sound errie and very cool indeed, something like the beginning of Sanitarium by Metallica. Pure class. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It's pretty solidly built, its really solid and heavy and (I'm not gona test this) I'd say it could survive being clipped by a bus. The amp hasnt failed me yet, but I've only had it for 3 months, despite this I've already fallen in love with it for gigs. Its loud enough to ride over a drum kit easily and unlike my Frontman 15G, it doesn't smell like its burning after 15 minutes at 10. // 10

Impression: I play heavy metal, black metal, u know that kind of thing. It's got the best distortion for it and I don't even need to think about using a distortion pedal, simply because it's that good. I was worried when I brought it that the distortion processor wouldn't meet my needs after using other people's marshalls and the fact that larger amps generally aren't as good at treble sounds, but this amp proved me wrong. When I use my Cruiser RG600 with it (has humbucker pickups) and start playing the second half of fade to black everything sounds perfect. The amp sounds so quiet while you're playing a song where silence is part of the riff you get an awesome sense of power. I'd definatly buy it agian. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on march 03, 2009

Price paid: $ 350

Features: It's a pretty new amp I guess seems quite newish maybe late early 2000's when it started to be produced. I play metal, new metal, deathcore and blues haha weird I know, this amp isnt a great amp at all I was so dissapointed when I got it I thought it was broken but I took it back and they said it was perfect. Anyway it has two footswitchable channels and 4 digital effects (which aren't that great) it's got fdd which is mediokre in my opinion. But the clean is great it's very versatile you can go from blues to a warm bright Indie kinda of ear piercing sound. // 4

Sound: I play with a Schecter omen 6 which works great with my friends vs100 but any guitar plugged into this amp will sound equally bad I think even a les paul with seymour duncans! This doesnt't really suit my music style (honestly). I used to love Marshall amps I'm sure there are still great ones out ther but this one has put me off completley. Distortion is capable of making you feel sick it sucks so much. When it's turned up a very noticeable hum can be heard and it gets a tinny sound. // 4

Reliability & Durability: I will say it's very reliable never had a problem with it other than the fact that I hate it cos of it's crap sound. I'm sure this amp could take a beating and still sound as shitty as it ever did. If it ever did need servicing I'm sure it would be relativley easy to find a place that could do it for a good price. // 7

Impression: This is not a good amp if you want to play metal I would suggest Blackstar, Mesa Boogie, Randall, Orange, Line 6 and any true valve amp. This amp is great for blues on the clean channel and the effects work ok on the clean aswell, pedals would be better though. I've been playing for 3 years, enough to know what sounds good and what works well and this is not a value for money product, I would not suggest you buy this amp and if I could I would take it back and get my money back it sucks! // 3

overall: 5.5

Reviewed by: timmEH, on march 04, 2006

Price paid: $ 395

Purchased from: Pickers Alley

Features: This amp has 2 channels, clean and overdrive, and comes with a footswitch to change them. It has an effects send and return port, it has a line in and a line out, which also works as a headphone jack. The only feature I really use are the channel switching and teh chorus effect, there is no reverb on/off on the footswithc which makes it impractical for live performances. It has a chorus/delay, just chorus, just delay, and a flange effect option, which can be turned on and off with the footswitch. I play a lot of genres of music, from jazz to metal, and it's not versatile enouhg for all of the styles I play. The fan on the back of the amp creates a lot of noise as well. // 6

Sound: I have a Les Paul copy by Dillion with humbuckers, and it sounds nicer in every other amp I've plugged into. The cleans on this amp are terrible, it's either tinny, or very bassy. The clean channel also distorts as soon as the amp volume is turend up halfway. The distortion on this amp is very noisy when your not playing, but its has a nice distorion for classic rock/blues type playing. // 4

Reliability & Durability: This is a solidly built amp, if not anything else, I can depend on it not to break down during a show. The rubber on the handle has started to fall apart, so it is a pain to carry around. // 7

Impression: Overall I must say that this amp is one of the worst amps I have ever heard, the only feature worthwhile is the overdrive channel. If it were lost or stolen, I would buy a different amp for sure, the fact that the cleans are so terrible is really what drives me away form this amp, and I can advise you nto to purchase it. // 5

Comments

[JohnnySlash]

Hmmm...little confusing that some people loves it but other hates it...

[Xenn99]

The reason some people hate it is because they're jumping on the "Marshall MG Amps suck" bandwagon. I love my MG50DFX. Just because a couple people have had problems with them before doesn't mean that every amp that has "MGxxDFX" on it sucks. What happens here at UG is that one person says they have a problem with something, then, suddenly, 15 more people mysteriously have the same problem. Then, those 15 people complain about this "problem" and even more people suddenly have it.
I personally love my MG. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Don't be swayed by all these people who claim that all Marshall MG amps suck. Go try some for yourself and see what you think!

[Frobert]

people say they don't like it and it is unreliable... because they've owned it and they know from experience that it is unreliable. I was playing a gig tonight, and before we even started, it kicked out. Oh wait, this is obviously a made up story because complaining about random amps makes me feel like a bigger person. Xenn99, just accept that Marshall isn't perfect.

[zirklers]

I bought a Marshall Amp (UK built) here in Australia and they only come with a 1 year warranty. Sounds fine but broke down after relatively little use and it's only 18months old so I'm stuffed with an overhyped useless box unless I spend more on it. Check the fine print of your warranty because I will never buy another Marshall product here in Oz until Marshall have the balls to back it up with a decent warranty. Shame on you Marshall for selling me expensive junk. I'm trying to make a living out of this and I'm working for repair bills now. Be warned Marshall customers. Don't be fooled by the guitar shop magazines and sellers. I play for real and the reality is this product failed to cut it out there in the gig space. Hope this reality check helps someone avoid the pain of unneccessary expense. Shop suspiciously and you'll be rocking, I'll be mopping floors !
Steve Z.

[zirklers]

My Marshall combo packed it in in 18 months of life. Warranty here is 12 months. For a product that boasts it is the primo, that sure sucks. Never again MArshall. Have the balls to back your product with a decent warranty Marshall cause I sure Marshan't !
Steve Z (trying to make it as a pro but too busy working to repair crap.)

[Xenn99]

Frobert, I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just stating that a lot of people bash MG's without ever trying them. If you see a post on the forums that even MENTIONS an MG, there is a long parade of "everyone says they suck" "Most of the people on UG hate them" "I heard they're crap" etc.

I accept that Marshall isn't perfect. Believe me. If I was some blatant fanboy I would have given it a 10/10. I find that the amp does what it needs to and does it decently. That's all.

As for the whole warranty buisness, that's BS. They SHOULD have the balls to back up their product. One year? That's an insult to the buyer.

[brandnewjunkie]

Update to my review above: about 6 months ago for no reason at all the amp became stuck on the overdrive channel. I've tried everything and I've even taken it apart and everything looks fine. It happened a little more than one year after I bought it. So I would have to change my reliablility rating to 0. The clean channel was actually the best part of this amp and now I can't use it. I've talked to several people who are electronics/amp knowledgable but they have no idea (it's definitely not just the switch). I've since got a nice tube fender and I couldn't be happier...

[UnsignedRecords]

well, my band member plays through this, only got it about a year ago and it has already failed to work, at all i mean.

the cleans, like mentioned a few times above, are actually quite poor, and the overdrive bottoms out very easily.

i've played through an friend's mg30dfx, which is a bit older, maybe made in the 90's and it sounds fine through my modeling pedal.

but personally, i'm a crate man

[jiddy12321]

alright im into led zeppelin and stuff like that,could anybudy tell me if this amp is good for that sort of stuff and light metal stuff

[ChptOfDarkness]

my friend had this amp. its great for a beginner in metal and such but no good for gigs. more garage/basement band thing

[Nathy8979]

JohnnySlash wrote:

Hmmm...little confusing that some people loves it but other hates it...

[Nathy8979]

im thinkin of gettin this amp so should i get it or not

[Faith No More]

I bought one umm 2 weeks ago because I borrowed the 100 watt one off a friend and liked it. An the 50 watt was all i could fit in my room.
I don't know why people hate it. It has a pretty decent overdrive/clean channel too. An to the people saying the clean is too bassy/twangy...ever heard of changing the eq? Twangy for surf(which i play alot) ppfft. An the overdrive is good.
Id probably use it for my band.
The effects are good enough, but i don't use effects much for what i play.
What else would you want for £165 ? EY!

[Nathy8979]

shud i get it

[leftys rule]

Ive had 1 for a year and it is a great amp. i am a bit pissed off that ive gone through two footswitches, the first one faulty as soon as i got it the second one last a year. im pretty sure its just bad luck. MG's dont suck

[da\/e]

my band has one it's preety good i love the distortion sound

[da\/e]

got one today 10 out of 10 really it rocks its got great effects and distortion. it cost me £250 and the footswich was £18.

[Nathy8979]

got it 4 christmas and its ****in class

[Kunundrum]

It's a good entry level amp you may gig (but not the best). I love the clean cause i play lots of jazz, but i don't like the overdrive. You can't get in between overdrive sounds like B.B. King stuff or John Scofield or overdriven blues tones. But it sounds good for stuff with lots of gain. I borrow a Tubescreamer sometimes when i use this and that fixes the problem

[Shizzster]

i have it, its a pretty decent amp for the price although i do agree there is probably a better deal out there this amp sounds pretty good. the clean is OK not the best and the distoriion is pretty good. Its definatly loud of enough for practice and im genna b forced to gig with it so ill see how that goes. the problems i have with mine is the friggin fan it will moan for a bout a min when u first turn it on and then it finally kicks in to normal power. hasnt totally broken yet and ive had it for a year. another thing i noticed is that after playin it for a while with my friend at pretty high volumes the distorion became really fuzzy and sounded nasty. i had to live with it for a while but i finally bought a multi effects with distrotion so i use those distortions now. if it were stolen and id probably buy a cube 60 and if i had spare money something even bigger like a peavey valve king

[Korzack]

Hmm... Had mine for about 10 months now - lol Maybe should keep an eye on it come November time hehe
Sounds good enough for me - Okay, to be fair, it could be better, but it could be a lot worse, a lot of it's just because I'm forever playing it at volume 1 or 2 so I don't annoy the neighbours. Definitely thinking for a next amp get a slightly more upmarket Marshall (looking at the DSL's) or a Hot Rod Fender - remember borrowing the Deluxe one for a gig & it sounded Damn nice.

[anjayloo]

should I get a new one for $260 or can I get it cheaper?

[sTx]

This amp plays like a dream, compared to my Laney. No, the Laney rules.=D

[Gatocaster]

I bought a new MG50DFX last summer. Quite soon after it developed an annoying buzz/rattle whenever I played a bottom E. This happened on more than 1 guitar so it wasn't fret rattle or anything like that. I finally couldn't take it any more, so returned it to Marshall for a repair. 3 weeks later it came back making nothing more than an earthing screech! Luckily for me the shop where I got it from took pity and replaced it straight away, but I've got to say that I'm seriously not impressed by Marshall's service quality. At the end of the day I've got an amp that works, but can't help thinking I should have saved up some more and gone for a Fender Twin instead.

[little_green_1]

Help me out here, i have a birthday coming up really soon and i cant decide whether to get Marshall MG50DFX or a vox AD50VTX.

[little_green_1]

or any other amp under £200.which one should i have to decide before the end of june (2007)

[little_green_1]

oops i mean which one should i get.i have to decide before the end of june (2007)

[guitar_amateur]

im seriously considering buying this amp, i trust the place where i plan on getting it from too, but it would cost me $440(CAD)and some people are telling me to buy it from the same place I bought the reason I want a new amp

[guitar_amateur]

the old one is a piece of shit with knobs on it called precision, you can find a review of it on ug

[JackWhitesCool]

MG50DFX or the Fender FM 212R? I cant decide...

[Gatocaster]

Save yourself some grief and get the Fender!

[shredder_666]

This makes a pretty good practice amp, but not the best for stage.

[XAkitAX]

Wow. timmEH obviously doesn't know crap about amps, when he says cleans are tinny or bassy, its called EQ idiot. I have an MG50DFX and I can get the perfect sound with any of my 8 guitars. This is a very nice amp.

[Edgar_guitarguy]

In hermes music?? 150 dollars,euro,CAD,pesos??

[fusion48]

In my opinion this is a good amp, i means its not the king of the castle, but for the money i was really pleased with it. I've never heard of this MG---DFX haters or anything like that so my opinion isnt swayed.

This amp has a great distortion sound which is versatile and suits many genres of music. I personally play alot of rock blues shizzle, and sounds great. I've had my amp for over 3 years and I've had no problems what so ever with it. I just think some are lucky and some arent.

If your thinking of getting an amp for under 200 quid, go for this, but anything above, get a valve amp, god they sound nicer, im beginning to get a bit bored of the amp, and am moving on to maybe a fender hot rod deluxe

[weiteck]

I just got an MG50DFX second hand and it sounds really awesome clean or distorted. Although my opionion is probably coloured by the huge step up in grunt and quality from my little Laney practice amp though, which offered a choice of either ice-cold cleans or mud.

I have a problem with the effects preset knob though, which isn't doing anything; the delay effect is just stuck on at a constant rate, so I can't change effects or adjust the delay rate. Anyone had this problem or any tips for fixing it?

[tftmc]

I bought this AMP for $300 total on eBay about 3 months ago. Brand New in the Marshall box. I play with a Washburn KC-20V and it just sounds so amazing. I have used other lower model Marshalls and was amazed then, but when I plugged this baby in I fell in love instantly. I can use it at home for practice or for a gig with no issues on volume, in fact it could almost handle a small venue.

The effect settings are great, and you can customize your sound for all sorts of musical styles. I suggest getting a Digitech RP50 effects pedal, with that combo and a good guitar you can sound PRO!

The MG50DFX is by far has biggest bang for it's buck. Like the Corvette of the guitar world.

Great for any level guitar player, beginner to seasoned pro.

[Prog_On]

The Marshall mg50dfx is a great amp, i play jazz and prog metal through it and its sounds awesome. I use this amp for practice, rehearsals and even recording. I also use it for small gigs. Great amp for a great price, it all depends on what u want it for. Its rather small for larger gigs though. And plz remember... there are not such things as crappy amps, crappy guitars or crappy guitar effects... THERE ARE CRAPPY GUITAR PLAYERS¡¡¡ Keep that in mind

[jeffo46]

The only good thing about this amp,is the clean channel.The distortion is muddy,and after owning it for only a week,the fan in the back started to make a loud grinding noise.This amp is simply put,a piece of shit.Don't waste your money on it.

[cultofthedamned]

jiddy12321 wrote:

alright im into led zeppelin and stuff like that,could anybudy tell me if this amp is good for that sort of stuff and light metal stuff

yeh it is it's good from classic rock to Light/heavy metal

[forwhomthebells]

My plectrum which i am currently holding is 10 and red in the middle with an Alien on it.

[trivium_rock]

im gonna get this amp for christmas. im well looking forward to it. i know how good it is and really blasts things out!!

[Nathy8979]

gd choice i got it last christmas, i was finkin twice bout it tho before i got it because some people liked it and others didnt, but its brilliant, has broke r anything the sounds great and it looks da part lol

[a6l6e6x1]

i hate how so many people say the mg series is shit when some of them have never played them, just following the crowd
i think i might get one of the soon for the overdrive

[soupdragon]

da\/e wrote:

got one today 10 out of 10 really it rocks its got great effects and distortion. it cost me £250 and the footswich was £18.

da\/e, you've have been seriously ripped off.

[Nathy8979]

i got mine for £170 n came wif free footswitch

[AaROn!]

Hmmm i was thinking about getting one of these, just for practising etc and i play a lot of AC/DC stuff, heavier stuff and also a bit of punk. Sould i get one of these or something else??

[E_squared]

My friend plays one of these with an ESP guitar and it sounds AMAZING.

[jimmywc]

I've had this amp for a few years now. At first it sounded great, but has since been VERY UNRELIABLE. First it started cutting out at gigs - v. embarrassing. I had a friend look at it and he said it was some loose connections and fixed it for me. It was ok for a while but now its messed up once again. It's got the same distortion problem that a few people have already mentioned. Also the rubber handle went a long time ago (as someone else has also mentioned!) which makes carrying it very awkward.
For Reliabilty I'd have to give this a 0.
It's a real shame as the sound was not bad.
If you are thinking about buying one - beware.

[tom_martin_123]

wot is it with this amp every1 seems to argue about it! i liked it until i read all this n now i jus dont want to risk bein one of those ppl who will end up hating it wen i have it, so ill jus buy sumet else.

[leviticus_22953]

i have this amp and i love it. i really love the sound especially the clean channel. i don't have any problems with it.

[jeffo46]

These amps suck.I bought one over a year ago,brand new.After 2 weeks,the cooling fan in the back of the amp,started making loud grinding noises.I emailed Marshall about it,and they never returned ny email.I bought it back and got a refund.Fuck Marshall,they don't care about their customers.

[BlueSky6392]

uhmm.. yea. i was thinking of buying this thing.. cuz my friend has it nad it sounded good... but i was thinking of buying the fender fm 212 too...they're about the same price soo.. any advice of which to buy?

[leviticus_22953]

i forgot to put in my review that i have had the amp for more than 3 years now.

[Korzack]

To elaborate more after my review: It's still got a damned nice tone - still leans over to metal if you give it a chance, but its' all about EQ'ing it, really, and keeping the contour down, which actually gives a far nicer sound in my opinion. Had to sell the LP to keep myself afloat at university, play my Gibson SG through this, and it works nicely still - Working nice GnR tones (Although the buolt-in delay is a bit over-enthusiastic for Welcome to the Jungle), can do Crue nicely - basically, anything you can throw at it, it does well in my logic. I stand by the good review I gave it, and while I'm sure if I bought even an AVT I'd get an improvement in tone, it gives me a lot of decent sounds

[welshguitarist9]

I've been using this amp for over a year and can't fault it. Love the tones, effects and never paid to much for it either. It's even survived alot of trips back and for to school with me, and in my school that is impressive.

[thejazzman]

Great amp for a great price. There is better, but you get what you pay for.

[Blasphemylol]

My lead guitarist plays on one and its kickass, he's had it for more than two years, no problems. Even a pc fan gets noisy when it collects dust noobs

[thejazzman]

Try this overdrive setting (it's nice for lead guitar in blues and rock)
Gain-3
Bass-6
Contour-0
Treble-8
Volume-Any

Us e this with a bridge pikup for an ultra cool soloing tone.

[Tango616]

i lol at the mg

[fyrefish]

i just got this amp a week ago, and it is this weird problem where if you press the FDD switch or touch the power switch, the distortion channel suddenly becomes really quiet and crappy sounding, like when you partially unplug a speaker. The clean channel is unnaffected. jiggling the button brings t back...sometimes. has anyone else had this problem?

[Inferrest]

I have this amp, and i love it, the only thing i hat is it's a bit big for home use i think, my tutor has a smaller Marshall amp and at lower volumes it sounds better....but if you want the volume up way loud this is a pretty good amp, especially for the money.

[Inferrest]

Ps, small Peavey amps are worth a look.

[thejazzman]

a great amp, quite enough for home use but loud enough to overpwer my massive school hall (it's like hogwarts lol). it easily cuts through a drummer, 90 watt bass amp and 250 watt guitar half stack and (when needed for jazz concerts ect) sax and keyboard.

[thejazzman]

thejazzman wrote:

a great amp, quite enough for home use but loud enough to overpwer my massive school hall (it's like hogwarts lol). it easily cuts through a drummer, 90 watt bass amp and 250 watt guitar half stack and (when needed for jazz concerts ect) sax and keyboard.

Did a gig with it last night in my school hall and i didn't turn the volume pas 4, it was just too loud after that! LOL.

[au_chris]

i bought one a few weeks ago, saving it for chrissy, but some of the negative reviews ive read are disturbing.

when trying instore it sounded great, although it was a 5 min play then buy haha. marshall does that to you i guess.

[*Kiwi*]

hey, just got my amp 4 €220 and i dont c what all the complaining is about....the amount of different sounds you can create is brilliant, and the sound is class

[Oosh.]

For the first review.. All 10's? You serious?

[domiel]

this amp should get something like a 5 or a 6.
its one of the worst practice amp's ive tried.

[slayer98763]

i've tried this amp and i have got to say, its horrible and considering that a lot of these reviews are within the 9-10 range, that just means that people really don't know how to review things properly and just throw around 10's like candy. in my opinion, if you want a good amp, save up a 2000 dollars and get one from messa boogie or something, don't cheap out. and if you are on a strict budget, go for a vox or something like the vox DA-5 only like 200 bucks but is a million times better then this amp, and have a lot more effects and distortions, its a great little practice amp, but thats all its good for, practice.

[Bighair]

MG's are shit.

[metal_666_man]

domiel wrote:

this amp should get something like a 5 or a 6.
its one of the worst practice amp's ive tried.

i have to agree, i was quite disappointed with it, there are much better practice amps out there then this

[deaththrashcore]

Marshall MGs have the tone of a tuning fork.

[masterp666]

its not the best, but in my opinion its solid and reliable. its never died on me, and its been everywhere i've been, which is a bunch of places. it sounds great loud. the only way it disappointed me were the somewhat sterile cleans and the fact that the distortion couldn't reach serious metal levels. But a boss bd-2 is perfect for getting nice warm cleans out of it, and for serious distortion i have the boss ml-2 metal core. with those, its a seriously awesome amp. i get fantastic tube-esque cleans, and serious distortion, and everything sounds better when its cranked up but also it sounds good when its quiet. and since its quiet hours during finals right now, i can definitely attest to that.

[MasterExploder0]

9.8,10,8.3?? Really!? I think I have better tone after a dinner at Taco Bell.

[asfastasdark]

The reason these have such high rating is probably because there starter level amps that are recommended to everyone in every music store, and the people that don't know which amps are good and which are bad think "it sounds good" so they get it. But after playing for a year or so you realize that the tone sucks and you should have gotten something else.

[guitarNbass]

when it comes to practice amps... the line 6 spider 30 watt is the way to go. It sounds the best out of the spider series, and it blows away the MG's. The Vox Pathfinder is a great practice amp as well as the vox valvetronix.

But I pray to the Lord Almighty every single night that I never have to play a solid-state amplifier again in my life. TUBE FOR LIFE.

[higherworlds]

if you know good equipment and good tone, then you know this sucks, not loud, bad tone, reverb sucks, and its a solid state, enough said!

[Faux~Affliction]

The MG Series is the worst amp I've ever played.
And I've played a HUGE selection of amps.
Complete waste of money, you can do WAY better for the price.

[Rogue Hermit]

this is a great sounding amp if you're used to low-end solid state amps. when i first heard a tube amp, it blew away this cheesy mg series amp.

there's a reason why professional musicians avoid solid state for the most part...

[calger14]

i have a MG30DFX and i think its ok but it cant get a good sound for what i play.

[jesussowns]

deaththrashcore wrote:

Marshall MGs have the tone of a tuning fork.

Fuckin' spot on mate.

[dgargett95]

these amps r awesome, heaps of people diss them, but with a few fx pedals and a bit of a fiddle with the settings they sound great!!! Also, a lot of the tone and sound comes from your technique and feeling!!!