Marshall Mg-Series

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cubanorocker316

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Hello all, now about the Mg series, ive had my doubts about marshall for a long time, my guitarist left his marshall mg50dfx i believe it is, and i fell in love with it, so i was thinking about getting the 120w mg head, but ive been hearing that the head be it may is louder but does not sound as good, any opinions on this matter would really help, thanks in advance

- Lou
 
I really liked the MG series when I was young. It really opened my ears to what good tone was supposed to be....then I purchased a tube amp...and it went from there. Honestly, you may be able to get an easier to carry, better sounding tube combo for the same price. But even if you decide to go with the Marshall, you'll enjoy it for awhile. Good luck!
 
I prefer tube amps personally and I suggest if your budget allows try a tube amp. Maybe go to your local shop and check them out side by side before you buy something. I also think more than 50 watts for a tube amp is probably too much. You want to be able to crank the volume up to about 6-8 to really get the thing to come alive. That just can't be done with a 100 watt amp in most situations.


Violent5
 
i agree with these people. try for a small tube combo.. Carvin Bel Air is pretty affordable :)
 
I've had the great displeasure of recording many mg series heads. It seems to be "the" head for basement bands and I can't stand it. Very digital and nasty sounding IMO, doesn't record particularly well, although it can be done. After investing in a good tube amp I'll never go solid state again. I hate sounding like a snob but I've owned crappy Marshall(avt50) and I just never waste my money on that crap again.
 
thanks guys but also keep in mind that im in a band and doing shows so a low wattage tube amp wont doo too much i need at least 100-120 w, thanks
 
cubanorocker316 said:
thanks guys but also keep in mind that im in a band and doing shows so a low wattage tube amp wont doo too much i need at least 100-120 w, thanks
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Thats why I prefer 50 watts or so. That way I can turn the volume up to 8 or so and the tubes really start working. I just love the sound of power tube distortion and prefer it to pedals or whatever. Most amps on 3 or 4 arent driving enough for me. So for that reason my 100 watters stay at home these days. I'm always miked at shows also so it can be as loud as we want it. The last couple times I saw Pearl Jam Stone Gossard was using an 18 watt marshall. The bottom line though is you have to get what YOU like.


Violent5
 
cubanorocker316 said:
thanks guys but also keep in mind that im in a band and doing shows so a low wattage tube amp wont doo too much i need at least 100-120 w, thanks
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a common myth many noobs believe is that you need a 100w stack in a band situation.

a 30W tube amp will kick a 120Watt solid state amps ass believe it or not. plus that fact that your amp will most likely be miced up into the PA system is another reason you will NOT need a over 50watts. a stack is pretty pointless too unless you just to look cool.
 
The last show I was at was Thursday. There were two bands with halfstacks, and one band with combos. The band with combos ate the stacks alive. It's a smallish club, and the ability to use a 20-50 watt combo a stage montor, and let the PA fill the room absolutely blows away the process of lauching a column of sound at the left half of the room, and letting the board operator deal with the consequences..
 
good point

good point but unfortunetly my amp nor my guitarists will be miced, only the songer, back up singer and tom and bass drum probably, and pretty much occupies the 4 channels on this PA.
 
cubanorocker316 said:
good point but unfortunetly my amp nor my guitarists will be miced, only the songer, back up singer and tom and bass drum probably, and pretty much occupies the 4 channels on this PA.
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My 30 watt Mesa dc-3 is fucking roaring loud on 3, blistering enough to have the cops called on me twice in a room with fairly decent isolation, luckily the pigs are my friends. BTW I also owned a 50 watt Marshall that I mentioned earlier and I would regularly crank it up to 8 and never had a complaint and it was pretty tolerable in the house. Based on everything I've witnessed so far my 30 watt mesa would easily keep up with a 120 watt solid state marshall head.
 
Also worth noting that a 100 watt amp is in fact not much louder than a 50 watt.....as most people probably already know twice the wattage does not equal twice the volume.....
 
marshall combo ?

i have 2 marshall combos one 30 watt and one 50 watt i gig a lott and i use both of them togeather and the tone is pure sweet.. i also have a ampeg half stack witch i giged w/ 2x ... the marshals are great i started using them togeather just in case one ever fails i can still play.. the 30 watt was a little small for some of the gigs i do so i got the 50 watt and it was a lot louder then i started using them both and the sound it great...i also replaced the speakers w/ jensen,s... i have done close to 100 gigs like this and no trouble...
 
cubanorocker316 said:
thanks guys but also keep in mind that im in a band and doing shows so a low wattage tube amp wont doo too much i need at least 100-120 w, thanks
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depending on the show you could mic that puppy; I mean honestly. a venue that REQUIRES 100-120 watts means you really should be going through a PA anyways. Realy I'm not sure how experienced you are or what amp you've been using prior to this, but I'll back a Marshall all the way. Im gonna even disagree with what was said above and back the AVT 50; great sounding amp for a good price. Its versatile, but I get the vibe you're playing rock.. I love the break up on the clean channel and OD is pretty neat too, some nice 80's metallica sounds if you scoop the mids. I don't think you can go wrong with a Marshall, and if you're set on solid state id say the VAT or MG series is your best bet. Good luck my friend.
 
I just noticed that you are 15 yrs old and not to knock you because of your age, because I started playing seriously when I was just a couple of years older than you, but I do have some advise for you. Nobody needs 100 watts. For what you'd pay for a solid state Marshall stack of that wattage, you could pick up a tube amp that will give you 100% better tone. Whether you want a head/cab(s) set up or a combo is up to you. Keep in mind that tube wattage is probably twice as loud as solid state wattage. Technically, it shouldn't matter from an electronic standpoint, but the fact of the matter is that it's true.

Again, not to use the age card or toot my own horn, but I started playing professionally, full time more than 10 years before you were born...so I do know what I'm talking about.

Where were you planning on playing with that much volume? These days if you crank up a 100 watt amp in anything smaller than a football stadium, you would probably get your ass fired so fast your head would spin. All the acts you see with huge stage rigs are just using those for the show, not the sound. I happened to share the stage with Judas Priest back in the early 80's. Mountains of Marshall cabs on stage. All empty. One of the guitar players (can't remember which one) was using a Fender Deluxe for his stage sound. That's 22 watts BTW.
 
cubanorocker316 said:
Mg series
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no. i think it sucks. i used my drummers mg half stack (the one where the head is half as wide as the cab, it looks really silly too) for a show, and the distortion channel stopped working after 3 songs. the next day it worked again. whatever it was, i didnt like it, and i had to finish the set in clean.. :mad:
 
50 tube watts (of marshall or boogie) is all you can ever need...

i use a marshall jmp-1 preamp with a boogie 50/50 preamp and ive toured for the last 6 years, playing from 20 people, to 10k. after about 2 months (it was used) half of the power amp fried, and i never fixed it, because i didnt need it...
i never turn my amp over 3 (as the lead guitarist) and any situation where you'd think you need to...by that size venue, they are mic'ing your cab and you're turning back down anyway
 
I bought a 100w marshall head.... and got so excited the day i got to play an outdoor festival... i could finally crank my amp up!!! NOOOO i could only put the knob on about 2.5 before i was too loud and drowning the entire band out...
 
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