Marshall MG50CFX 50 Watt Electric Guitar Amplifier Combo With Effects

Excellent bit of kit, prompt service

I have gone through countless solid state, valve and digital/modelling amps since starting on my humble Marshall MG50 back in the day, as the mass stigma of Marshall MGs made me constantly seek "Better Gear". While I now certainly have better gear, I was suprised to see myself come back to a Marshall MG as a solid state backline/practice amplifier.The Pros:1 - Marshall Tone : for the money I love it. The highs are not as abrasive as amps like the Boss Katana, and the overdrives dont sound hollowed out like many other modelling amplifiers such as the Fender Mustang, Line 6 Spider, etc. The clean is very dark (which I like) , as it wont sound as bright like a JC style clean from a roland cube or Boss Katana amplfier.2 - Its Idiot Proof : you can access everything from the front panel - no LCD screen, menus or laptop connection to stifle your tweaking.3 - Comes With A Footswitch : absolutely love this mentality as you dont have to fork out more money to control the channels (unlike other brands...).4 - The Looks : controverisal, but I really like the silver panel with the rugged amp covering.5 - I/O : love the effects loop, footswitch options and dedicated speaker output to let you use other cabs ; Its one of the few budget amps today which still has all this I/O.The Cons:1 - The Effects : frankly they sound a bit s***, as the control over each effect is limited. Pair this amp up even with a cheap multi-effects or some decent stompboxes through the effects loop and it will sound much better.2 - Background Hiss : there is a constant background hiss to the amplfier that gets louder as the amp gets louder. This is found in all Marshall MG models and series that include the FX, CFX and the recent gold ones (which are the same on the inside as the CFX). It's not noticable when you are playing, but it is important to note as many other amplfiers like the Boss Katana and Line 6 Spider do not hiss like this. I did email Marshall about this ages ago and they didn't want to admit the problem ; it is a budget amplifier, im sure the power filtering /isolation isnt great. To be fair, i have tried many high end valve amps by Fender, Marshall, Vox and Bad Cat which are a lot more noisy...Overall, I am delighted to own one of these for £175 new. If you are a Plexi lover, then give one of these a go as you'd be suprised how much the amp gets right for so little money.