NAD - New (lower power) Marshall Head....observations about power....

[studio1087]

It's a Haze. 15 watts. (I'm sure everybody knows the little Haze).

The rig...

I bought a mint MG 4 x 12 off craigslist (cheap) about 10 months ago. I played my VOX Night Train into it. I played my Class 5 into it. All good.

I tried a Marshall MG 100 head through it (it was cheap and I wanted a Marshall half stack)....not so good. I sold the MG head as quick as I bought it.

I bought the used Haze with channel pedal (mint) used online. It was affordable. $300 used.

Now I have a Marshall tube head.

Observations......

It is loud. I have five 15 watt tube amps and I have a 22 watt Deluxe Reverb. The Marshall into the 4 x 12 cab is loud enough that I have yet to turn the master about 4. It moves my pants when I play chords. I have never played a 50 watt Marshall head through a 4 x 12 in a place where I could really turn it up but the power and volume must be remarkable.

The cleans are great. I stereotype Marshall with gain. This may be my hangup but I don't see a lot of clean Marshall guys. I tried the amp with my Jr (P90) and then with a Les Paul Classic (humbuckers) and then with a Tele. The cleans are loud and round and warm and spanky. The clean spank quality is really nice (this coming from a guy who holds Fender tube amps to be sacred).

Single coils sound awesome. Again, this may be my hangup but I tend to associate Marshalls & humbuckers but my Tele set to the neck pickup puts out a blues or classic rock/funk sound that is really nice. I was pleasantly surprised.

The gain is great. Probably goes without saying on a Marshall amp but it's a thicker, meatier chug chug chug than I'm used to. I play Barber Half Gainer or one of many Tubescreamer varieties in front of a Deluxe Reverb or VOX or Princeton amp. I'm used to a different sort of overdrive. The Marshall is thicker but I still hear my guitar. It's a lot of fun. It's going to be a lot of fun.

On board effects. The reverb is OK. The delay is OK. You can have the reverb on all the time and switch the extra effect in and out the with the pedal. I have delays on both the clean and dirty channel. I was hoping that the Vibe would sound like tremolo. I like a classic reverb and tremolo combination on a tube amp. The vibe sounds like a flanger that has astma......it's not so good. The chorus sounds like a mediocre chorus pedal. The chorus is not warm and ambient like an old Ibanez TS9 or a EH Small Stone. The reverb is ok and you've got delays on board. Fine with me. Happy.

The enclosure and tolex and handle and construction are rock solid. I'll be that they are using the same enclosure for the Class 5 heads. It's the same width and depth as my Class 5. Solid little bugger.

Back to power and volume......I must be getting old. At 15 watts I could hurt myself with this rig. I can't imagine turning a 50 watt Marshall up to 6. I don't know or understand turning a 50 watt Marshall up to 6 but it must be amazingly powerful.

Oh well....used NAD. Marshall tube half stack on a budget.

 

[Kalamazuu]

Happy NAD! What do you think of the MG cab, I see them on craigslist more often then any other cab, but I haven't heard to many good things about them.

 

[alexb17]

congrats dude. you can get some great tones out of those. I had the 40 watt combo for a while.

 

[jerrypilot]

It can take years for a player to realise that a fifteen watt tube amp is loud enough to gig with - in fact , it's great because you can crank it and get the output stage sweating . I use a Blackstar Artisan 15 flat out with an attenuator for pub and club gigs , and that's in a fairly loud band .

 

[rlammjr]

It's a Haze. 15 watts. (I'm sure everybody knows the little Haze).

The rig...

I bought a mint MG 4 x 12 off craigslist (cheap) about 10 months ago. I played my VOX Night Train into it. I played my Class 5 into it. All good.

I tried a Marshall MG 100 head through it (it was cheap and I wanted a Marshall half stack)....not so good. I sold the MG head as quick as I bought it.

I bought the used Haze with channel pedal (mint) used online. It was affordable. $300 used.

Now I have a Marshall tube head.

Observations......

It is loud. I have five 15 watt tube amps and I have a 22 watt Deluxe Reverb. The Marshall into the 4 x 12 cab is loud enough that I have yet to turn the master about 4. It moves my pants when I play chords. I have never played a 50 watt Marshall head through a 4 x 12 in a place where I could really turn it up but the power and volume must be remarkable.

The cleans are great. I stereotype Marshall with gain. This may be my hangup but I don't see a lot of clean Marshall guys. I tried the amp with my Jr (P90) and then with a Les Paul Classic (humbuckers) and then with a Tele. The cleans are loud and round and warm and spanky. The clean spank quality is really nice (this coming from a guy who holds Fender tube amps to be sacred).

Single coils sound awesome. Again, this may be my hangup but I tend to associate Marshalls & humbuckers but my Tele set to the neck pickup puts out a blues or classic rock/funk sound that is really nice. I was pleasantly surprised.

The gain is great. Probably goes without saying on a Marshall amp but it's a thicker, meatier chug chug chug than I'm used to. I play Barber Half Gainer or one of many Tubescreamer varieties in front of a Deluxe Reverb or VOX or Princeton amp. I'm used to a different sort of overdrive. The Marshall is thicker but I still hear my guitar. It's a lot of fun. It's going to be a lot of fun.

On board effects. The reverb is OK. The delay is OK. You can have the reverb on all the time and switch the extra effect in and out the with the pedal. I have delays on both the clean and dirty channel. I was hoping that the Vibe would sound like tremolo. I like a classic reverb and tremolo combination on a tube amp. The vibe sounds like a flanger that has astma......it's not so good. The chorus sounds like a mediocre chorus pedal. The chorus is not warm and ambient like an old Ibanez TS9 or a EH Small Stone. The reverb is ok and you've got delays on board. Fine with me. Happy.

The enclosure and tolex and handle and construction are rock solid. I'll be that they are using the same enclosure for the Class 5 heads. It's the same width and depth as my Class 5. Solid little bugger.

Back to power and volume......I must be getting old. At 15 watts I could hurt myself with this rig. I can't imagine turning a 50 watt Marshall up to 6. I don't know or understand turning a 50 watt Marshall up to 6 but it must be amazingly powerful.

Oh well....used NAD. Marshall tube half stack on a budget.

Yes, I have the same one and I think it kills! I bought the extension cab and added a Vintage 30 and I love it. It likes pedals too. Maybe I need to buy the second cab for a 1x12 full stack?

 

[studio1087]

Happy NAD! What do you think of the MG cab, I see them on craigslist more often then any other cab, but I haven't heard to many good things about them.

I think the MG heads (amps) are horrible, thin, nasal solid state amps.

I think the MG speaker cabinets are "ok".

I think that people buy the cabinets and then realize that a 4 x 12 isn't the easiest thing to move around or live with. It's like moving furniture. It's a not a grab & go amp for jamming.

I paid $149 for my cab from craigslist and it looks like a kid had it sitting in his parent's family room for a year. No dings. He was happy to get the thing out of the house and he talked about wanting a smaller amp.

I used to run my VOX Night Train into the MG 4 x 12 and it was nice. I've run my Class 5 into it......nice. Now the Haze. I have many stompboxes that cost more than $150.

I have a Carvin cab with Carvin British Speakers and I have another cab with Celestion 70/80's. I think the MG cab is "OK".....not amazing but very usable/solid/"OK".

If you can get one (cheap) off craigslist and you're looking for a new toy I would say go for it.

This is how I started using it. Cheap thrills. Sounds good.