HARLEY BENTON 15W VALVE AMP

[Gstring]

Anybody any experience of these?.Sold in the US as Monoprice and based, I understand on an old Laney design.

An acquaintance of mine of senior years is dipping his toe into the electric guitar scene late in life. He is a competentent acoustic camp fire guitarist but is also keen on jazz.

His budget is limited and he is currently dithering between a Harley B HB35 and Donner 335 clones at around £210 . The second hand amp market seems pretty dead at the momement.He is primarily a bedroom guitarist and I have suggested something conservative like a Marshal MG30GFX at around £150. He seems keen on the HB valve amp however though I'm not sure it will best suit his needs.

 

[El Dunco]

I would recommend just about anything but the Marshall MG series. They just don’t sound good enough to justify spending the money on them that wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere. They’re not even good for solid state when you know how good solid state can get and with even the more affordable modelling technology today far surpassing the MG in sound quality, there’s just no point.

I get they aren’t necessarily as terrible as they’re made out to be, but they really need a good cabinet for that to be the case in which case if he already has one, most anything else would be much better and even more so if he doesn’t. What are his needs that you don’t think the HB will suit?

 

[Gstring]

I have a 16 year old Marshall MG30 DFX which has given me good service. around the house over the years.I bought it second hand at a bargain price around 10 years ago. Thought the HB would be a bit over powering as a bedroom amp, But you are probably right about it being OK for Jazz. I think the Blues Junior, which is similar in many ways to the HB is often a recommended amp by Jazz guitarists.

 

[marcello252]

The blues JR is always a winner in the Budget vs. Tone ,category in my opinion, there are a lot of other options, even way cheaper, but it sounds very good in every situation, it's a workhorse, and in the used market you can find it quite often

 

[El Dunco]

I have a 16 year old Marshall MG30 DFX which has given me good service. around the house over the years.I bought it second hand at a bargain price around 10 years ago. Thought the HB would be a bit over powering as a bedroom amp, But you are probably right about it being OK for Jazz. I think the Blues Junior, which is similar in many ways to the HB is often a recommended amp by Jazz guitarists.

I could not recommend the MG less for jazz. They put even less effort into giving it a decent clean channel. The HB being low wattage tube will likely have a pleasing clean sound at most volumes in a bedroom and only get better as he turns it up. I think he has the right idea. I’m surprised he isn’t looking for a good deal on a Roland JC.

 

[marcello252]

Another cheap amp I've often seen used by Jazz guitarists live is the Roland Cube

 

[idsnowdog]

I have the 5 watt version and it's a great value. I lowered the value of the treble bleed capacitor and installed a 12AT7 on mine.

 

[Aceman]

If the guy likes Jazz and Clean - a small Roland JC22 would be the way to go.

But one of the little Boss Katanas would not be a bad move either if he wants to play all sorts of things.

Valve Schmalve - good sound is good sound. It doesn't require tubes.

That said, a little HK Tubemeister head (would need a cab) with variable wattage would be great, or as mentioned, a Blues Jr.

 

[marcello252]

I have the 5 watt version and it's a great value. I lowered the value of the treble bleed capacitor and installed a 12AT7 on mine.

I'd get rid of EVERY treble bleed cap, I cut it off of every amp I have

 

[DankStar]

couldn't go wrong with a katana, mustang, or a cube.

if he wants tubes the monoprice thing would probably be a fun little amp. they basically give them away so it's not like he's going to be out a lot of coin trying it out.

 

[Securb]

I had an MG30 that I used for everything from Jazz to Metal, and it sounded fantastic. Back in the Tipton/Downes days, JP used the MGs in the recording studio. Many of your favorite JP tones are an MG. The cool thing is I passed it on to my friend's kid about 15 years ago, and he has dragged it all over the country from college to his first job in Oregon, and the amp is still kicking ass.

 

[DankStar]

I had an MG30 that I used for everything from Jazz to Metal, and it sounded fantastic. Back in the Tipton/Downes days, JP used the MGs in the recording studio. Many of your favorite JP tones are an MG. The cool thing is I passed it on to my friend's kid about 15 years ago, and he has dragged it all over the country from college to his first job in Oregon, and the amp is still kicking ass.

I just saw Hirax live last Sunday night and Katon has a relatively new/young guitarist in the band. I swear he was using an MG head (it was too small to be one of marshall's tube amps and too boxy-shaped to be a valvestate), which I've never actually seen a band use. He was mic'ed up on a 4x12 and he sounded pretty good!

 

[Securb]

I just saw Hirax live last Sunday night and Katon has a relatively new/young guitarist in the band. I swear he was using an MG head (it was too small to be one of marshall's tube amps and too boxy-shaped to be a valvestate), which I've never actually seen a band use. He was mic'ed up on a 4x12 and he sounded pretty good!

Tipton makes a MG sound just fine

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Tipton makes a MG sound just fine

No disrespect to the man. He's a legend. But that vid is certainly not the best he's ever sounded.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I love the Blues Junior, personally. But I wouldn't call it a very versatile amp.

It's kinda hard to conrol for bedroom levels. It gets loud pretty quick.

At moderaly loud levels, it sounds great. It sounds fantastic clean, and takes pedals incredibly well to get it sounding workable from super clean all the way to high-gain (with pedals). Though, if I must be honest, it does benefit from a speaker upgrade.

At band levels, it's not clean, and it's a very specific sound. It's not a Metal amp, and it's certainly too dirty for clean styles.

That being said, I'd personally choose a Blues Junior and find a way to tame the volume perhaps with a pedal or something over other random lower-end solid-state, modeling, or cheapie tube amps. As someone who is into gear, I personally find a Blues Junior with pedals way more fun than those amps that have so-so inbuilt models and effects.

 

[Securb]

No disrespect to the man. He's a legend. But that vid is certainly not the best he's ever sounded.

No, it isn't, but he and KK also used MGs on the albums.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

No, it isn't, but he and KK also used MGs on the albums.

Yeah, I think Static X used them as well. Not to play jazz, though.

I don't mean to say MG's are bad, but at the same time, if the guy can afford a Blues Junior, I don't see why he wouldn't wanna go for the "better" amp for his style.

 

[donaldr]

On a limited budget I would go for a used Katana 100w (or a Line 6 Catalyst 60w). Nice sounding clean and crunch channels (and he can even plug its acoustic if he wants to), plus some usable built-in effects until he get some pedals (I'm still using the builtin Blues Driver, the delay and the reverb after 5 years). It's my practice amp and for home the 0.5w mode is perfect. 50w/100w if he wants to jam with a drummer.

If it's just for home use, a Yamaha THR10 is a really good amp.

 

[El Dunco]

Of course MGs sound better plugged into a decent cab. The crummy speakers are 90% of the problem in crappy combo amps. Hell, an ex-housemate of mine had a Peavey combo with a 10” speaker that went from good to amazing just by switching the speaker to a spare Celestion I had lying around.

Static X used them live for their availability and light weight, but into a real 1960A cabinet though. OPs friend doesn’t have a cabinet and getting one for an MG to not sound like crap or even buying a different speaker if it’s a combo, it’s monry better spent elsewhere because there’s almost nothing that won’t be more versatile than an MG for the money. It was never a debate about whether it’s possible or not to get an MG to sound good.

Obviously anything can be made to sound good under the right circumstances, but anyone who is a thinks the MG is a “good” amp needs to stop settling for less in life. You matter and deserve better. Marshall spent as little on R&D and construction on these things as possible. You really are paying for the name on the front because it’s so under par even as far as solid state goes. Not to mention the dice roll of serious noise and reliability issues. Besides finding one priced really low used for fun, as before, I cannot in good faith recommend an MG to anyone for any reason.

I’d recommend an interface, good monitors and good modelling software first, or the hundred or so affordable amps from SS, modelling and even tube that destroy the MG for close to the same price.

That JP clip doesn’t sound good tonewise and demonstrates what most people dislike about them.

 

[Securb]

I don't mean to say MG's are bad, but at the same time, if the guy can afford a Blues Junior, I don't see why he wouldn't wanna go for the "better" amp for his style.

The OP said the guy has a $200 budget. For that price range, SS Marshall is more than serviceable, especially for a hobbyist or bedroom player. The OPs question was is a MG30 for sub-$200 a good amp for a bedroom player and the ansswer is, yes.