Marshall MG100HDFX: does cheap + solid state = crap?

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

Those Laney Tube Fusions are also a lot better than any Valvestate or MG.

+1 - I use one of the first series Tube Fusions, and I used that at my rehearsal studio over the MG's and Vavlestates they had. It sounds pretty solid recorded and live it holds up volume-wise too. I can dig up some clips if you want. I've been complimented on my tone at almost every gig I've played with it, even with a band where the other guitarist was using a Mesa Studio Preamp.

For the money, it's a solid dependable amp, and if you do take it out of the bedroom it'll still work - plus they're so cheap it means you can spend more on a decent cab that you can keep when you upgrade the head. I'd still look for a valve combo first though.

And Static-X's live tone: HERE - it's okay I guess, but so much of their sound is on a backing tape it's hard to tell what's going on

Steve

 

[Splat88]

http://www.gibson.com/whatsnew/pressrelease/2001/oct30a.html

This article says that Static X uses the same Marshalls live as in the studio. They also layer the guitars with a Podxt Pro.

 

[kev]

Well, i read that article and to me it says he uses a VS100 like i have, and a G100? No mention of the actual MG here?

 

[cobhc]

http://www.marshallamps.com/artists/artist_quotes/artist_quotes.asp?quoteId=7

This one says different.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Marshall MG anything is bogus dung.

Marshall AVT anything as well, with the exception of the AVT head + non-AVT cab (ie, use a real cab), which sounds decent for the price. Still, I agree with the Crate & Randall suggestions...

 

[Tachy]

For my personal opinion the best cheap transistor amp is the crate combo with two speacker, I cant rememeber the name of the model but it has 3 channel, one clean one for crunch and the lead channel that have a common eq with the crunch if I remember correcly.

 

[CGord]

Ok, so the Marshall is a no-go. Randall, Crate, & Line 6 have been mentioned; what's a good choice out of those?

 

[kev]

Ok, so the Marshall is a no-go. Randall, Crate, & Line 6 have been mentioned; what's a good choice out of those?

I definitely found the g1200 crate head better than the marshall, by a long way- spent a good 30 minutes in sound control making this conclusion at the time!

Now... others are saying about laneys, and i can believe they'd be good too. I know line 6 are normally good also.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Ok, so the Marshall is a no-go. Randall, Crate, & Line 6 have been mentioned; what's a good choice out of those?

line6 sounds too... digital? dry or coarse for my taste. the exact word to describe it is difficult to pin down

 

[JBroll]

As far as Randall and Crate go, if you sit around and figure out where the Crate has its chunk and the Randall has its grind you'll find a lot of things you like. I hear tons of complaints about them, but you know what? If you know how to use the Crate as a Crate and not something sounding sorta like a Recto or a 5150, or you know how to use the Randall as a Randall and not something you'd like to hear as a hot-rodded Marshall, you'll get great sounds out of them. I can't defend either of their 10 watt heaps, as I haven't found anything that sounds good with what I do through a 8 or 10 inch speaker, but if you get a combo or stack that you know how to use (I use a Crate XT120 myself, in case my bias wasn't already all out there) you'll find what you want, period. Personally, I'd go for a Crate XT120 (and change out speakers as you wish) or G series head, and then put an Avatar cab under it. I unfortunately don't have the advantage of a good Laney dealer nearby, so I don't know their sound well from my own experience (all I know is that Opeth sounds simply incredible, now whether their distortion comes from those amps or from the Boss units on the stage floor is uncertain). If it helps I'll get around to posting a clip or two demonstrating why my Crate doesn't suck, as soon as I'm used to finding good positions with my now-transformerless SM57 (which may take a while, at this rate - completely different mic!) and have the time to put something good on disk.

Jeff

 

[gumplunger]

Just try it out man, let your ears decide and not other peoples' opinions.

I'm going to disagree here. I trusted my ears once and ended up with a Marshall AVT150 head because I thought it sounded good. If someone had come up to me while I was trying it out and said "Don't buy that crap, here play this 5150," I wouldn't have a $700 paperweight now.