Zakk Wylde MG15MS's Stonehenge and La Torre di Pisa - A Review

[GAS Man]

Well first let's get through the travelogue part of the review.

 

MG15MSZW Stonehenge configuration ala Spinal Tap.

 

Now this configuration actually adds a significant amount of bass and balances out the tone a bit. I'm sure it's channeling the forces of the Druids in this config.

But it's actually not circa 2600BC England, but 2008 Vietnam.

 

Now the original and conventional configuration is shown here in La Torre di Pisa, i.e. the leaning tower of a PRS leaning up against the poor little thing.

 

I may not use it as a guitar rest again after viewing this picture.

 

Hope you enjoyed my MG15MSZW's travels.

 

 

For a review -

 

Hey, it's a fun little amp. I'm honeymooning with this amp longer than most. It really is fun.

 

It's got more bass than you'd expect. The cheapo stock no name speakers really do a pretty decent job. I'm tempted to upgrade the speakers to see if this amp has any more potential, but I may not bother. Don't know yet.

 

But it is surprising how decent the cleans are on this amp. I was actually hearing more bass out of this amp than the Blue Junior NOS sitting next to it in pic 2. I've been running my Boss RE20 into it adding just a touch more reverb and a little echo slap back to deepen the spatial effect on cleans. But the built in reverb on this micro is more than enough for the heavier tones.

 

On the high gain tones, you can indeed dial in some fairly brittle SS sounding tones, but you can also dial in some pretty lush signature Marshall tones at levels that are just below painful to the ear. So it just takes some fiddlin to find the sweet spots. And actually, the more your pour it on, the creamier it sounds. It's more in the "just starting to clip" area, where it's a bit short. You find yourself wanting a little more headroom as your ears grow accustomed to the volume, but then you remember "IT'S A PRACTICE AMP!!" And it's "neighbor friendly". But with the Gain control, Bass, Contour, Treble and FDD switch, there's really a lot of tonal options available on this little guy, and really, it's just so dang cute.

 

And before anyone posts any Zakk Wylde dissin, I don't give a hoot about the guy, know who he is, but that's about it. But this model was attractive since its tone's been tweaked a bit more, and aesthetically it's got 1960TV grill cloth, gold piping, Old English/Celtic script face plate labeling and gold-brushed Marshall logos on the head and speaker cabinets. My eyes don't even see the signature or BLS markings without putting on my readers and shoving my face up next to the amp. And when I someday dump it, being limited to 1400 units won't hurt me any.

 

But at the clearance price of $280, they're not a bad deal on a nice little practice amp. http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-MAR-MG15MSZW-LIST But nothing anybody should really expect to be able to take to "da gig".

 

But don't take my word for it - listen to what Chatreeo has to say about it.

 

[YOUTUBE]dcgekL_Egbo[/YOUTUBE]

[BigBone]

That video is awesome.

[WALL-E]

I just bought one of these last night in a latenight binge...which also included one of those $50 Two Timers...

 

I saw a couple vids where the amp sounded pretty good and I'm a big fan of the look...not so much of the ZW thing...but you're right about the TV grille cloth and whatnot...quite attractive.

 

Hoping this thing will help keep me from having to warm up a tube amp (as those are the only ones I have now)...for 10 minutes of play time. Also looking into grabbing a Hiwatt mini-stack on Ebay to complete that cute little wall of sound look

[GAS Man]

Hoping this thing will help keep me from having to warm up a tube amp (as those are the only ones I have now)...for 10 minutes of play time. Also looking into grabbing a Hiwatt mini-stack on Ebay to complete that cute little wall of sound look

 

That's really a real big part of what I like about this amp. No pressure. Just click in on and off like a light switch. Something about fire up a power plant just to practice a few scratches is a bit much for me sometimes. Most of my stuff is either tube or hybrid.

 

I'll have to check out the HiWatt mni. Also be curious to hear what you think of this MG. I was thinking tonight that I light the ballsiness of the FDD switch, but I think I might prefer the more compressed smooth tone with it off. But depends upon the guitar I grab too. Seems to sound better with medium to lower gain p'ups. Just sat down my Yammy SG with Gibbie 496/500 and picked up my SG Spec with 490/490. Better.