I thought that I would do both as they are essentially the same, and I have tested both, and they are the same apart from power ratings and either being one or two speaker configuration. Thus my review is done on both.
SPECS :
This is a 50 mono amplifier with a 12-inch celestion ( MG50 DFX ) or 100watt stereo amplifier with 2x12inch celestion ( MG250 DFX ) custom made speakers.
THIS IS THE ONL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO MODLES !!!!
FOR BOTH MODELS :
There are two channels one clean and one distortion, so pretty basic. The clean channel has gain, bass middle and treble functions. The gain channel has gain, bass middle and treble controls also with a volume channel control. Next comes the effects section, which has a knob to select one of the either - chorus effects, delay, delay and chorus effects, or flange effects. Then the mix of the effect into the original signal, as well as reverb, and finally main volume J Which goes loud ! for the
MG50DFX or very very loud for the MG250 DFX J It can be easily used for home as well as gigging experience.
Other additional features: On the front panel there is a headphone socket / emulated line out, which I had great difficulty trying to find a headphone out on an amp as large as this.
It also has round the back the footswitch input which is a standard 2way foot pedal, with two switches, one to change from clean to gain and vice versa, as well as turning the effect on / off, NOT THE REVERB!
Then there is a CD input so you can jam along with all your favourite tracks, coupled with a send and return for stereo effects, sadly no control of how much is included in the mix, like normal wet /dry controls. There are also the speaker outs where the amp head part goes into the speaker cab attached. All the connections are standard ¼ inch mono jacks like your normal guitar leads.
SOUNDS :
Clean channel : This has a wide range of sounds which can be tailored to your choice, I brought this amp mainly for the clean tones, which can sound warm and fat, to frail and thin, and they sound good with my stratocaster, ( humbucker loaded ) I really do like this clean tone because I like my sound to be warm and rounded, but if you want more clarity just boost the mids and your there J a very good rounded sound can be achieved here. Note the gain can be turned up all the way before starting to even show hints of distorting, but be careful if you have high out put pick ups as it will drive it into distortion earlier than the normal pick ups.
Distortion channel : Marshall distortion is like marmite you either like it or you don’t. to be honest I am not massively taken with it, and I wasn’t judging the amp on its performance here, as I have another effects unit which deal with this area. I have used this channel many times though, and I feel it to be one that is very good, the two best settings are those tailored to the AC DC sound with the boosted mids and nasal sound, and that of the modern rock / metal of which mine is set too most of the time. Over all I would say that this channel although with that Marshall sounding distortion does cover a lot of different sounds, from a mid break up to hi gain sounds. Altogether not a bad sound, and this is certainly a big step up from the earlier MG series which I have also used.
There will no doubt be those of you who have valve amps that will say I am crazy, but this sound does for gigging and bed room practice, as I have found out, and as well as dialling in those great sounds of past rock, it leaves some scope to get you own twist on them too, and thus generate your own sound, but as these have sold millions its possible someone has your sound too now ;-)
The Effects :
No mater whether they are digital compared to analogue effects, I would say that the effects included are useable in a Varity of situations, where I frequently use the delay at a low setting to good effect, and it sounds fine, whilst some of the extreme uses / settings of the effects are impractical the vast majority of what is there is very good, and I was quite surprised that you got such a range for a low price !
Reverb, being digital as well is a little more brash that then soft analogue spring reverb, again it is easy to use, and it sounds good when used in gigging and recording situations….
HOME / RECORDING use .. Low volume levels …
The only problem is that you are going to have to use the line out on the amp for recording as there is a little fan in the back of the amp that keeps everything cool, and therefore running smoothly, but it doesn’t half make some sound in quite situations, but the fan cant be heard in gigging places thank god ! J The line out performs well as I have used it lots of times…. But note that you must lower the gain on the clean channel before recording to avoid overload and distortion, and turning down the main volume doesn’t effect the line out, so you can plug in your headphones turn off the main volume and play at 1 am! Brilliant!
GIGGING :
As previously said the MG50 DFX might not be loud enough for those large concert halls, but the MG250 DFX which I have gigged regularly copes very well, and its never at full volume even for large halls so there is always some head room just in case you need it.
Conclusion:
Over all a fine amp, and well worth every penny of the £320 I paid for the MG250 DFX, I am not sure what the retailing is of the MG50 DXF, but I would very much advice you to check out the larger version because of the gigging capabilities. This swayed me from the MG50 DFX to pay a bit more for the larger version, and plus you can then use stereo effects J , if not then the MG50DFX is a good well rounded amp.
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Advantages: Value For Money! Good rock and blues tones Disadvantages: effects aren't 'incredible', distortion channel won't work well with single-coil pickups
musicmaker2904 13.01.2005 ·
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