Pricing:
I got this amp off of www.musiciansfriend.com for $300 (USD)
Pros:
Very loud, definately loud enough for a small to medium sized gig
two overdrive settings "drive" and "more drive"
two 12" speakers
footswitch included
two inputs (one for passive pickups, and one for active pickups)
Very sensitive EQ
Separate EQs for clean and gain channel
Mid Contour switch for boosting mids
Very good price for such a good amp!
Cons:
Switching from "drive" to "more drive" channels increases the volume
It's pretty heavy (48 lbs.)
Solid State
Review:
ok, as you can see from the above pros and cons lists, you can see that there are a lot of pros and very few cons. Going over the cons first (save the best for last of course!) I will say that it is pretty heavy, though not as heavy as a half stack. It's just not something you would want to carry between your house and a practice or gig all the time, but if you do like I did, and just leave it at your gig/practice area, it's no problem. Also, when you are playing, if you are in the drive channel, and you would like to switch to the "more drive" setting, your sound instantly becomes louder, because the "more drive" follows the same EQ settings as your normal drive channel, you can't set them separetly. though you can set the clean and drive channels separetly.
Also, this amp is very loud, I play gigs for about 40-50 people with the volume at about 2 1/2 (on the drive channel, on the clean I need it up to 4 to have the same volume) and my amp isn't even hooked up to the PA!!! so it is very loud. Another great thing about this amp is how sensitive the EQ is, the slightest turn on the treble knob is noticable in the sound, I'm saying that there is a difference between having you EQ set up as this: "Treble-7 Middle-8 Bass-6" and this "Treble-7 Middle-7 4/5 Bass- 6" and I'm not exaggerating, those are some sensitive knobs!
This amp also comes with a two button footswitch, the first button switches between clean and dirty channels, and the second button switches between "drive" and "more drive". And one last thing I must mention is that this amp has two inputs, my first thought was that you could have two guitars play at the same time(never tried), but then I read the manual and it said that input 1 was for passive pickups, and input 2 was for active pickups. so this amp will work with whatever guitar you have.
Summary:
Despite this amp being solid state, it can make some good tones, and at a very good price too. And I'm very glad that I decided on this one rather then a Marshall MG100DFX half stack that would have cost more then double the price of this one, and probably wouldn't have given a much better tone anyway. If you are looking for an inexpensive amp for band practice or gigging, then you found it! if you wanted a new practice amp, then this 100w monster may be a little TOO loud. for a practice amp, you may be happier with one of this amps little brothers, the 65W 1x12" Fender FM 65R or the 65W 2x10" Fender FM 210R.
