Marshall MG30CFX 30-Watt Solid State Guitar Amplifier (Discontinued)

91
GEARANK

91 out of 100. Incorporating 1000+ ratings and reviews.

Street Price: 

$230
Marshall MG30CFX Guitar Amp

Marshall is easily one of the most recognizable amplifier brands today, used by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson, Randy Rhodes and many other iconic guitarists. So it's not surprising at all to find them rating so highly in the entry level, and they did so by embracing digital sound processing while retaining their analog tonality. It may not have as many extras as other amps in its category, but it carries enough to make practice and even small venue gigging interesting.

The main selling point of the Marshall MG30CFX is that it has a Marshall voicing for its distortion channels. Hard rock and metal musicians have been drawn to Marshall for decades because the brand is voiced to enhance the clarity and character of a distorted guitar. If you’re looking for a small solid state amp to approximate heavy metal and rock tones this amp would be a solid option. While many may purchase this amp looking for balls to wall gain, the MG30CFX comes with four different channels that have varying levels of gain. The channels, in order from cleanest to most heavily distorted are: clean, cruch, OD-1, and OD-2. The MG30CFX also comes with a handful of effects, including: reverb, chorus, phaser, flanger, delay, and octave-up.

The cool thing about this amp, and something that differentiates it from other amps of this type, is that it allows users to store four different presets. These presets lock the controls, with the exception of the master volume knob, so that you can easily access your favorite tones. Even better, you can also switch between these channels via a footswitch.

Features:

  • 30W Amp
  • 1x10" Speaker
  • 4 Programmable Channels
  • Built-in Effects (Phaser, Chorus, Delay, Flanger, Reverb)
  • Speaker emulated Line out
  • 3-Band EQ
  • Headphones Output
  • Aux Input
  • Weight: 23.8 lbs.

Pros

The crowd favorite feature of the MG30CFX is its great emulation of the revered Marshall crunch tone. But it doesn't just stop there because many also liked the OD2 high-gain metal sound, as well as the clean tones, stating that it has a lot of low-end punch. And it also gained a lot of commendations for its ease of use, which is interesting considering that this amp is quite versatile. Simply put, the general consensus is that this amp is a great buy.

Editor's Note: This was the 2nd most popular budget guitar amp with Gearank readers throughout 2017

Cons

The limited number of effects, and limited ways of configuring them were brought up by some users. Some also complained about the lack of volume, but since this is meant to be a practice amplifier, this is to be expected more or less.

Overall

If you're looking for a semi-versatile practice amp that has the classic Marshall rock guitar crunch, then you can't go wrong with the MG30CFX.