Marshall MS4 Micro Amplifier Stack - Black

I've been playing guitar on-and-off for the last 15 years at somewhere between a beginner and an intermediate level (It's just a casual hobby for me and something to-do alongside my other interests).I've had other larger and more expensive amplifiers over the years, and I'm very surprised how well the Marshal MS2 holds up despite its size, and its affordability.Build quality-wise, the amp feels adequately built for the price. It is very light, and the housing feels a bit plasticky, but the dials and various ports (the bit that matter) feel well-made.The sound quality, however, is incredible; it's difficult to really articulate how good it is with words, so I'd recommend looking at some demonstration videos online. The clarity on the clean mode is superb. I'm not the biggest fan of the overdrive mode as I'd much rather use a dedicated effects pedal (more versatility), but it is nice that it is included.Despite some of the drawbacks I have listed, I cannot overstate how good this sounds and performs for its price point. It is very affordable, very portable, and I will be using this as my go-to amp for the time being.Update (October 2024): I eventually parted ways with this mini amp, after receiving another larger amp, and then eventually moving exclusively to a classical acoustic guitar. I still would strongly recommend this amp, especially if you are on a budget. It is miles better than some of the budget amps I was using way back when.

I have this amp on my desk as a larger one wouldn't be feasible. I originally used batteries as i didn't have enough plug sockets to plug the amp in, but it went through a battery pretty quickly, so i managed to get it plugged in. I did initially use the Overdrive mode, which was ok, it wasnt amazing, and there was very little adjustments you could make, but it was useful, but now i just use the clean tone as i have my pedals setup under the desk. Overall the sound quality is good; about as good as you could expect from a small amp, and i have no issues with it for my use. I would definitely recommend this as a gift for someone who plays an electric guitar, since, even if they already have an amp and won't use this as their main amp, this is a useful thing to have since it is so portable and can be battery powered, because they will use it at some point, and will appreciate the gift.

This is a very small amp, with a 3 inch speaker, so don't expect miracles. However, it's very small and easy to transport. I bought it for a road trip I went on recently where I was bringing a guitar but had no room for even a little 15w mains-powered practice amp. This Marshall can be powered by a 9v battery and has a clip on the back so you can clip it to your guitar strap and plug in using a patch cable (30 cm or so) and just wonder around unhindered (which is nice, N.B. the larger MS-4 doesn't have this clip).As other reviews have noted, the clean channel is very quiet. The OD channel will go a fair bit louder, but doesn't really actually overdrive until the volume is turned up a bit, so you can use the OD channel as clean-ish at lower volumes. I also managed to put some pedals through it with no problems.If you want a 'real' amp, don't buy this. If you just want to be able to practice anywhere, without the need for a power supply then this is a good solution, but don't expect to be making guitar-god noises through it!

This amp will never be your main amp - it's not designed to be. It's meant as a portable way of taking your electric guitar to places where you wouldn't be able to lug your gigging set-up. I teach guitar for a living & this is perfect for when I need to go into schools & such like.I also do a regular slot playing guitar live on a local radio show, for which this amp is perfect. Its volume is on the same kind of scale as a big dreadnought acoustic guitar bashing out the decibels - no problem being heard.I play a strat with a HSS pickup layout, so I tend to leave the amp on it's OD setting all the time. If I use the neck (single coil) p/u with the guitar volume at around 5-6, I get a very usable clean sound - good for strumming & general accompaniment. Wind up the guitar volume pot to 10 & you've got a usable SRV style crunch. Flick to the bridge humbucker for Kinks-style raspy distortion (think "You Really Got Me").There is a nice "touch sensitivity" when playing through this amp - you get the sense that someone at Marshall was involved in the way it sounds, rather than just slapping their badge onto a generic product. It does have a quite "Marshally" sound, albeit within the context of what a 3" speaker is able to deliver.For twenty quid, you can't really do any better at taking your guitar out & about - even a cheap acoustic is going to cost at least double that AND you have to put up with playing a cheap guitar. This little beauty allows you to take your favourite electric plank anywhere you like - you can even use headphones with it too. It would have been nice to have an input for an mp3 player so you could jam along with backing tracks, but as I said, for 20 quid, it's still a bargain!

Fabulous little battery amp, perfect for me to practise. Lovely sound for my little cigar box guitar. Why 3 stars? Because as soon as I plugged in a mains adaptor, smoke came out of it! I really only need the battery unit so I'm keeping it, but the mains wiring is downright dangerous!