Guitar Gear Forum

So does this thing have to be loud to get gain?? It’s got a gain and master knob but seems like in reviews I’m reading the master has to be high to get any gain.

yep, it needs volume. It's actually a pretty good amp once you get it going, but it's very much like a NVM Marshall were the preamp doesn't have a ton of gain and you need the power section to distort.

The master is there if you want to use the amp as a pedal platform. Then you can run the amp clean or even at the edge of breakup and add pedals in front and in the loop. But if you want o get "Marshall gain" out of it it's pretty much like a NVM amp.

I think they sound pretty good cranked tbh. Similar to a 1987X although less punchy and less gainy. But in that ballpark for sure. Underrated amps.

They get a lot of bad press because people can't crank them up when trying them out at stores. I had that problem myself, I tried it at a store and it felt like it was a very weak sounding amp. Then a friend of mine brought his to my lockout studio and I cranked it was like "ahhh there it is"

A friend left his with me for a few days and I used it in an apartment. You can get a little bit of crunch at lower volumes but its nothing special. You can put it at the 5 watt setting and it helps but, like Billy said, this amp needs to move some air before it gives up that special brand of Marshall goodness.

I enjoyed playing it, even in a small apartment, but I used pedals for gain.