marshall mg100dfx

im a metal classic rock blues rock kind of person. my main axs are a ivar johnson lp copy with gibson pick ups an epi lp and a fender 60's reverse strat. i have been looking for a new amp for a while now. my current amp is a 7 yearold rogue 30watt and its dying fast. to get any kind of crunch even with a boss ds1 pedal i have to dirty cab it.

id like to know some honest opinions about this amp. i really like the marshall tone and i like most of the features and sound of this amp. execpt the price the wattage(100 is a bit much) and the onboard dsp effects ( my bro is a plumber and says the more you add to the system the more there is to go wrong).im looking for something more along the line of a small pratice amp from a loud 15 to a roaring 50 or so. but i dont even know where to start on compairing it to other amps.

i have about $500 american to spend but id much rather not have to spend that much, but the other side of the coin is will i be shelling out $500 bucks again if i dont get good quality now. what other amps are going to give me the ability to go from bb king to sabbath to megadeth?

I have one of these amps, got it a few years ago and have found it to do the job nicely. It has the distinctive Marshall tone and is a great budget option over the more expensive tube models. I'll give you the good and the bad.

Good:
Nice tone, sounds from very quiet to very loud (the tube amps only sound good when cranked to ear bursting levels). Built in effects are not bad, you can get a nice lead tone and rhythm are very clear. It's loud enough to play with a drummer without having to go through a PA. The amp comes with a speaker simulator is very handy for recording at home if you want to keep noise to a minimum or don't have microphones etc.

The bad:
The fan in these models are known to give a loud audible hum - however it dies down after about a minute or so - no biggy. The Eminence speakers do not project low end power as well as the Celestiens in their tube counterparts.

This amp is best suitaed for metal (80's and early 90's tones) - the clean is ok but a little brittle - this can be very hard on the ears at high volumes. Personally, I love the Marshall tone for very fast shred passages off the neck pickups - especially for sweep picking, very nice distinctive rolling tones from string to string. If you have the cash though, check E-Bay for a Marshall TSL601 - it's the upper end 60 watt tube model with great tone and a lot of tone shaping options. You may be able to get one second hand for not much more.

Re the DFX, don't get the head and cab version, the 'all in one' amp sounds better, is more compact and gets better reviews overall.

My jamming buddy is currently using a MG100DFX 212 with a Boss ME8 muti effects, it sounds amazing! there doesn't seem to be a tone he can't get and he plays everythin from clean stuff to classic rock, modern rock, metal, as superhuman said, the fan can hum a little at start-up but no big deal, he bought the amp off e-bay £145, bout $290 US and the ME8 also off e-bay for £45, bout $90 US, incidentally, don't be put off by big wattage amps, a 100 watter with the volume at 2 is no louder than a 15 watter at the same setting, but it does have much better tone.