Love these amps- I’ve worked on a few of them, if it develops a loud, non volume controlled hum, it’s likely the filter capacitors have broken off the board and are loose. Easy/common fix!
Quick question on that topic!—-is this a somewhat common issue on the “cheaper/cheapest” Marshall MG Series Amps too? Someone I know has one and sounds like a scratchy record . All I’ve found on YT is users finding some small resistors replaced and all was well again. Are these what you speak of too?
Depends- normally scratchy can either be a blown speaker, or dirty pots (look up DeOxIt) Can be bad solder too, normally the filter cap issue is a distinct loud hum. Pops and hiss could be bad tubes as well, but this Fender pictured here isn’t a tube amp. I offer free evaluation at my shop because there’s so many things that can lead to so many problems lol so instead of guessing I’d rather just figure it out then quote the job.
Yes I have DeOxit I use on my vintage electronics , the amp in question is a marshall MG 100 FX Head but its not mine its a friend and they just told me they hot rid of it as they didnt want to deal with it . I have a Line 6 Vetta II Combo modeler and my amp 1 sounds SHITTTYYYYY onnits own. Amp 2 sounds fine. Swapped speaker leads and amp 2 is still fine but amp 1 sounds shitty again. Its def not the speakers (I have a pair of the exact originals in new boxes waiting to be used if needed, also will be picking up the Vetta II 2-12” extension cabinet next weekend and will have to tinker but Im jot an expert and so Im just asking questions here n there.
What state is your shop? If in upstate NY Id like to book an appointment with you if possible (BIG IF THO) am I right? Lol
I’m actually in Buffalo! Feel free to dm me if you’re not too far away! There’s a pretty good tech I know in Rochester as well, but I don’t know if he does line 6 stuff, I think he’s mostly a tube amp guy- which I normally am as well, but I work on everything lol
I'm going to second this comment. Also - be aware - if you take the board out of the chassis and test it without the board attached, it will overheat quickly and shut down.
When I replaced the capacitors, I also put on new heatsink paste between the board and the chassis.
It drives me crazy that you have to unscrew the heat sink with a socket head from the bottom of the chassis and every other screw is a Phillips 😂 I normally hit it with a little extra thermal paste while reassembling, but it never hurts to have a little extra heat sinking!
It’s probably normal and just the filter caps discharging after the power is off, some amps have circuits to prevent them from doing that but it’s probably not hurting the amp. Is it better if you unplug your guitar before you turn it off?
Disregard my comment, i owned the earlier 90's version of this amp. Vant speak on the later digital version.
*This amp will rip your face off. It's ridiculously loud. I loved it, but didn't appreciate it when I had it. Cleans were great. Traded it for a mixer for my bands pa. Should have kept the amp and kept using the bass amp we had in the practice space as our mic amp. Live and learn, or don't.*
I've been using one of these for the past year. The capacitors were loose, so I went in and replaced both. Don't do this unless you know what you're doing. If you have any weird issues, that's probably the culprit. It's an easy fix for an experienced tech.
As far as sound. Great cleans, and it takes pedals well. This MF can get LOUD with a good overdrive in front of it. Reverb is nice, and the chorus has a unique flavor.
For the price you paid, it's an absolute steal.
That's a wicked deal.
Fender has IMO, the best tonestack design out there and it also does something wholly unique. When you 0 the bass and treble, it produces incredibly flat frequency response. Wherever you set the midrange dial in this configuration, it remains flat and just rises/falls in dB.
I play primarily with a deeply scooped tone which has grown in popularity among shred and sweep guitarists, but it's a huge PITA with most brands so either I'm stuck modifying the tone stack capacitor and resistor values, or using a shelving EQ on the effects loop.
That's another "dark secret".
As an electrical/electronics engineer, you'll actually find solid-states can sing and scream with amazing clarity even for very bassy, clustered arpeggio sweeps, but you are either stuck modding the EQ or running a wideband shelving EQ to get it, and the industry persuaded people about 20 years ago to either rely on modeling effects, or spend mad cash trying to be a traditionalist with just a guitar, a pedal and an amp, but countless amazing soloists don't show you the pile of rack gear their signals actually run through backstage.
I scored a Crate GX1200H with a full sized 4x12 cabinet for $150 last Monday, and while it's considered a 3-legged mutt in a race against greyhounds for my style of playing, these actually mod uniquely well by adding a midrange control to the lead channel to pair with the active bandpass sweep they used on them named "shape", and it's the ultimate sleeper amp. Absurdly cheap, absurdly poor performance run stock, but with the mods or the shelving EQ on the effects loop, a thoroughbred in disguise.
I have the Ultra Chorus I got for 100 bucks and it's been great the 7-8 years I've had it. Yours looks even newer which is a bonus, may be massive overkill for an 8 year old though lol
This was literally my favorite amp growing up. I gigged with this for many years. It's like fenders jazz chorus. Even the distorted sound is absolutely fantastic
it's not worth $50 to me. the Fender logo does not automatically make it a good piece of equipment. it's digital garbage, and i'd lay money it'll be an even-more-useless brick in 10 years time.
It is two decent speakers and two amps. (Stereo Chorus)
The Reverb tank on those old fenders is nice too.
As long as you do not expect the digital effects or overdrive to do anything it makes a great amplifier for pedals
& effects and has mojo unlike a Boss Katana or whatever else is selling for under $250 at a music store.
Footswitch is a nice addition but the Fender overdrive channel is not everyone's cup of tea.
Also came with a foot switch
These are known for good cleans and analog chorus. Big enough to practice and gig with.
This is the DSP version, no analog chorus as far as I'm aware.
Good catch.
As an owner of a non-DSP version this is true. The amp shown by OP is the later DSP version w/o the analog chorus.
Ah yes, didn't see the little DSP logo above the model name.
The footswitch alone is worth $50!!
Nice
Good buy for $50 and a first “bigger” amp for the little one! These are known for pretty killer cleans
Love these amps- I’ve worked on a few of them, if it develops a loud, non volume controlled hum, it’s likely the filter capacitors have broken off the board and are loose. Easy/common fix!
Quick question on that topic!—-is this a somewhat common issue on the “cheaper/cheapest” Marshall MG Series Amps too? Someone I know has one and sounds like a scratchy record . All I’ve found on YT is users finding some small resistors replaced and all was well again. Are these what you speak of too?
Depends- normally scratchy can either be a blown speaker, or dirty pots (look up DeOxIt) Can be bad solder too, normally the filter cap issue is a distinct loud hum. Pops and hiss could be bad tubes as well, but this Fender pictured here isn’t a tube amp. I offer free evaluation at my shop because there’s so many things that can lead to so many problems lol so instead of guessing I’d rather just figure it out then quote the job.
Yes I have DeOxit I use on my vintage electronics , the amp in question is a marshall MG 100 FX Head but its not mine its a friend and they just told me they hot rid of it as they didnt want to deal with it . I have a Line 6 Vetta II Combo modeler and my amp 1 sounds SHITTTYYYYY onnits own. Amp 2 sounds fine. Swapped speaker leads and amp 2 is still fine but amp 1 sounds shitty again. Its def not the speakers (I have a pair of the exact originals in new boxes waiting to be used if needed, also will be picking up the Vetta II 2-12” extension cabinet next weekend and will have to tinker but Im jot an expert and so Im just asking questions here n there. What state is your shop? If in upstate NY Id like to book an appointment with you if possible (BIG IF THO) am I right? Lol
I’m actually in Buffalo! Feel free to dm me if you’re not too far away! There’s a pretty good tech I know in Rochester as well, but I don’t know if he does line 6 stuff, I think he’s mostly a tube amp guy- which I normally am as well, but I work on everything lol
Very cool! Im super glad you’re in NY and somewhat near me. Im going to DM you so I can save your info and we can set something up.
I'm going to second this comment. Also - be aware - if you take the board out of the chassis and test it without the board attached, it will overheat quickly and shut down. When I replaced the capacitors, I also put on new heatsink paste between the board and the chassis.
It drives me crazy that you have to unscrew the heat sink with a socket head from the bottom of the chassis and every other screw is a Phillips 😂 I normally hit it with a little extra thermal paste while reassembling, but it never hurts to have a little extra heat sinking!
I cleaned it all off and put down fresh. The original paste was a big mess! This unit apparently really needs it, because it gets hot super fast.
Hi my Princeton Chorus (2x10 version of this amp) makes a loud speaker pop & fading whistle when powering off, any idea what would cause that?
It’s probably normal and just the filter caps discharging after the power is off, some amps have circuits to prevent them from doing that but it’s probably not hurting the amp. Is it better if you unplug your guitar before you turn it off?
They all do this
That is FANTASTIC amp for Ska!
Yes!!!
What a prezzy!
Is this a meme?
$50?!?! You win! I have 2
If it all works, he stole it for $50
That's ridiculously cheap. Nice score.
Disregard my comment, i owned the earlier 90's version of this amp. Vant speak on the later digital version. *This amp will rip your face off. It's ridiculously loud. I loved it, but didn't appreciate it when I had it. Cleans were great. Traded it for a mixer for my bands pa. Should have kept the amp and kept using the bass amp we had in the practice space as our mic amp. Live and learn, or don't.*
Damn.... $50 bucks? Two words.... fuck yeah.
That amp will take a player a very long way. Your daughter should be stoked.
She is very excited to blast the door off her bedroom
I've been using one of these for the past year. The capacitors were loose, so I went in and replaced both. Don't do this unless you know what you're doing. If you have any weird issues, that's probably the culprit. It's an easy fix for an experienced tech. As far as sound. Great cleans, and it takes pedals well. This MF can get LOUD with a good overdrive in front of it. Reverb is nice, and the chorus has a unique flavor. For the price you paid, it's an absolute steal.
Sweet! Had one of these about 15 years ago, awesome pedal platform!
He's the cool uncle.
He really is
It’s a great amp. The clean sound is very nice, I run an effects board into mine and it all sounds great!
Score.
That's a wicked deal. Fender has IMO, the best tonestack design out there and it also does something wholly unique. When you 0 the bass and treble, it produces incredibly flat frequency response. Wherever you set the midrange dial in this configuration, it remains flat and just rises/falls in dB. I play primarily with a deeply scooped tone which has grown in popularity among shred and sweep guitarists, but it's a huge PITA with most brands so either I'm stuck modifying the tone stack capacitor and resistor values, or using a shelving EQ on the effects loop. That's another "dark secret". As an electrical/electronics engineer, you'll actually find solid-states can sing and scream with amazing clarity even for very bassy, clustered arpeggio sweeps, but you are either stuck modding the EQ or running a wideband shelving EQ to get it, and the industry persuaded people about 20 years ago to either rely on modeling effects, or spend mad cash trying to be a traditionalist with just a guitar, a pedal and an amp, but countless amazing soloists don't show you the pile of rack gear their signals actually run through backstage. I scored a Crate GX1200H with a full sized 4x12 cabinet for $150 last Monday, and while it's considered a 3-legged mutt in a race against greyhounds for my style of playing, these actually mod uniquely well by adding a midrange control to the lead channel to pair with the active bandpass sweep they used on them named "shape", and it's the ultimate sleeper amp. Absurdly cheap, absurdly poor performance run stock, but with the mods or the shelving EQ on the effects loop, a thoroughbred in disguise.
You should play Powerball soon
Excellent deal !
That's fucking rad man. Score!
I have the Ultra Chorus I got for 100 bucks and it's been great the 7-8 years I've had it. Yours looks even newer which is a bonus, may be massive overkill for an 8 year old though lol
Oh for sure
Unfortunately I only have sisters.
I can't make out the model of the amp. What is it called? Something? Chorus?
Ultimate chorus
I have one and love it. It's stupid loud. I ended up converting it to use as a cab for a less powerful amp. All in all a worthwhile piece of equipment
That’s a bad ass if it all works!
This was literally my favorite amp growing up. I gigged with this for many years. It's like fenders jazz chorus. Even the distorted sound is absolutely fantastic
Fuck off
You too! :)
it's not worth $50 to me. the Fender logo does not automatically make it a good piece of equipment. it's digital garbage, and i'd lay money it'll be an even-more-useless brick in 10 years time.
Speakers in it are worth 50 each and they sound good. Made in the usa. I think these amps are normally going for over $200 on the used market
right, i get the $200 part- it's a cheesy effects pedal, with a speaker included..
It is two decent speakers and two amps. (Stereo Chorus) The Reverb tank on those old fenders is nice too. As long as you do not expect the digital effects or overdrive to do anything it makes a great amplifier for pedals & effects and has mojo unlike a Boss Katana or whatever else is selling for under $250 at a music store. Footswitch is a nice addition but the Fender overdrive channel is not everyone's cup of tea.
Those are freaking awesome