csguy0
Active member
Soooo after @DanTravis62 posted his excellent review/clips of the @MGL AmpWorks MGL 50 Modern/Vintage, I decided to jump on the chance to own one myself.
I purchased an amp that was already built (assuming it was the one from the clips) but I definitely wasn't cool enough for purple (@Techdeth is still teaching me to vape harder). Mark was more than accommodating to build a new head shell for me, customized to my liking (blacked out - looking SICK). Within 2 weeks, the amp was on its way to me (at blinding speed!).
On to the sound.... I kinda feel like Quagmire in the episode where he discovers internet porn for the first time. I've been glued to this thing ever since I opened the box - only now taking a moment to write about it before I disappear again.
Mark checked in along the way and I'm just going to post my email I sent to him after I had a chance to play it a bit:
Hi Mark!
I picked up the amp early this morning and had a little time with a few different guitars - HOLY COW! I'm really impressed.
I've never played an amp with a response quite like this one... it's so immediate, like the pick is connected to the speaker?
The chest-thumping low end is amazing, and the EQ controls have a great range. You can get lots of different sounds just between the presence and treble knobs.
That mids knob! Wow... really responsive, great range on the control. I played with the switches a bit. With the caps switch I couldn't really notice a sound difference—maybe a little high end was rolled off. Is this more of a feel response thing? - (editor note: once you play the amp more, you notice that on the real mustard cap the mids are fatter and overall a little more clarity. In the up position on the SoZo cap there’s a little less in the mids, upper mids don’t have as much presence. A little more gain with a more easy and greasy feel. But it is subtle.)
I was apprehensive about a single channel amp, but this thing is great with the volume control on the guitar! Lots of range in gain sounds. I was quite happy with the vintage gain and feel levels - I'll have to play more later when I have time to explore the modern sounds. (editor note: I played this later with a 7 string w/Fluence, a tremoniti, and a 6 string in drop C w/ a DiMarzio Super Distortion... it absolutely crushes with gain)
Oh, and I also received a pedal order from Griffin Analog (@griff10672 It's actually my customized version of @rsm Cornish Duplex Drive) on the forums... it's a Cornish boost circuit. It plays really nicely with the Low sensitivity input; I can't wait to throw a few more boosts at it! (editor note: This really doesn't need a boost for tone shaping, I just had this one on my board and wanted to try. The bass is tightly controlled and predicable all the way to drop A, I would like to experiment more this weekend with a few other boosts)
So, that's it! My first impressions have been great so far - it was surprising to me because I've never played an amp that was so immediate. I recently sold a 1959HW to @Bxlxaxkxe which definitely had a lot of punch, but this MGL still caught me by surprise with its immediacy and low end, especially for a 50W.
Mark was kind enough to share some professional photos of the amp before shipping... so I'll share those with you all as it really is a work of art!
I purchased an amp that was already built (assuming it was the one from the clips) but I definitely wasn't cool enough for purple (@Techdeth is still teaching me to vape harder). Mark was more than accommodating to build a new head shell for me, customized to my liking (blacked out - looking SICK). Within 2 weeks, the amp was on its way to me (at blinding speed!).
On to the sound.... I kinda feel like Quagmire in the episode where he discovers internet porn for the first time. I've been glued to this thing ever since I opened the box - only now taking a moment to write about it before I disappear again.
Mark checked in along the way and I'm just going to post my email I sent to him after I had a chance to play it a bit:
Hi Mark!
I picked up the amp early this morning and had a little time with a few different guitars - HOLY COW! I'm really impressed.
I've never played an amp with a response quite like this one... it's so immediate, like the pick is connected to the speaker?
The chest-thumping low end is amazing, and the EQ controls have a great range. You can get lots of different sounds just between the presence and treble knobs.
That mids knob! Wow... really responsive, great range on the control. I played with the switches a bit. With the caps switch I couldn't really notice a sound difference—maybe a little high end was rolled off. Is this more of a feel response thing? - (editor note: once you play the amp more, you notice that on the real mustard cap the mids are fatter and overall a little more clarity. In the up position on the SoZo cap there’s a little less in the mids, upper mids don’t have as much presence. A little more gain with a more easy and greasy feel. But it is subtle.)
I was apprehensive about a single channel amp, but this thing is great with the volume control on the guitar! Lots of range in gain sounds. I was quite happy with the vintage gain and feel levels - I'll have to play more later when I have time to explore the modern sounds. (editor note: I played this later with a 7 string w/Fluence, a tremoniti, and a 6 string in drop C w/ a DiMarzio Super Distortion... it absolutely crushes with gain)
Oh, and I also received a pedal order from Griffin Analog (@griff10672 It's actually my customized version of @rsm Cornish Duplex Drive) on the forums... it's a Cornish boost circuit. It plays really nicely with the Low sensitivity input; I can't wait to throw a few more boosts at it! (editor note: This really doesn't need a boost for tone shaping, I just had this one on my board and wanted to try. The bass is tightly controlled and predicable all the way to drop A, I would like to experiment more this weekend with a few other boosts)
So, that's it! My first impressions have been great so far - it was surprising to me because I've never played an amp that was so immediate. I recently sold a 1959HW to @Bxlxaxkxe which definitely had a lot of punch, but this MGL still caught me by surprise with its immediacy and low end, especially for a 50W.
Mark was kind enough to share some professional photos of the amp before shipping... so I'll share those with you all as it really is a work of art!
.gif "guitar :m17:")
