Could this TINY MARSHALL AMP get you through a GIG EMERGENCY?

Could this TINY MARSHALL AMP get you through a GIG EMERGENCY? You decide. Also, this mini Marshall is NOT my backup amp. Check out the video to hear my story of a gig that could have ended in disaster. I know a ton of guitar players, who play live, can relate to the struggle. ;)

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Thanks!!!

[JD-vjgo]

You would absolutely make it through the gig and the audience would barely notice. But any guitar players at the show would spend the next two weeks complaining about your tone.

[stromstans]

As a teenager I often connected the Marshall MS2 to an amp through the headphones output, using it as a distortion box. I remember it as sounding great, but I’m not certain how critical I was back then.

[arealbigchungus]

This is how most black metal is recorded

[Gornflyin]

I REALLY want to hear this hooked up to a real speaker, like a 6 or 8 inch, and use an overdrive. I think we would all be shocked. But hey, what would I know lol

[satevo]

That mini Marshall sounds bad ass. I have one, and it rocks AC/DC perfectly.

[Swampster]

That piece at 3:23 IMHO sounds haunting on the mini Marshall. I prefer it to the tube amp. I have one of the early Peavy Bandit 112's and it is the destroyer of drywall. I had the top handle break and it took a run down 20 steps and into the drywall at the bottom of our stairs. Amp worked like a charm whereas I had to work like a mofo repairing the damage to the house.

[nigel]

You know, an eq pedal could go a long way to shaping the sound of that little amp. I have a couple full Marshall stacks, and have become accustomed to their sound. But the first time I encountered one of those little battery powered jobs, was in a pawn shop. I jokingly plugged into it just for the laugh, and was blown away. The thing sounded pretty damn good, considering.

[MarioKrishnandanu]

To be honest, that actually works if you put that mini marshall in the “emergency gig” situation. I like the clean tone tho, like you said its pretty cool that it kinda breaks up the clean signal. Nice experiment!

[gconstantine]

Is it weird that I wanted to hear them both combined?

[GregsKitchen]

Not even you could make that mini amp sound good

[rocktorrocks]

Cool little experiment. If i had to rely on any mini amp, I would go with the Blackstar Fly, sounds surprisingly good for it’s size.

[Mattalica-sspj]

I had a Peavey Bandit yonks ago (like late 80s early 90's)... and yup -- little buggers were damned near indestructible. Was a super-solid backup for the Crate half-stack and a lovely amp all its own.

[seventallguitarist]

I carried an Orange Micro Terror amp in my road case. My main rig was a Hughes & Kettner GM36 that Had in a rack along with a H&K 1x12 cab. I had the power supply for the Orange amp mounted and ready to go in the back of the rack. If the H&K ever crapped out on me, it was going to be a 5 minute fix at most to dig the Orange out, plug it in & be ready to fly. no where near the versatility of my normal rig. But it's 20 watts. It's tube & would have absolutely gotten me through the night. I think I paid $120 for the Orange. Had it in my rig for almost 5 years and fortunately never had to dig it out. But the other guitars in one of the bands I was in, had his amp crap out and used it for a night. Sounded great. I've recently bought one of the Bogner Mini Extacy head. 30 Watts. Solid state and can actually push enough air to be played loudly through my Marshall 4x12. Cool little amp. Again. Not ideal to use as a regular amp for gigging. But plenty good in a pinch. The Orange is much smaller though, so it took up less space in my road case. So many good options out there to carry along as a backup. If you're a gigging musician and you don't carry some sort of backup rig? You're asking for trouble.

[Espresso]

As a live sound guy, this is why its important to think about these things. I've had this happen a few occasions with some musicians. Personally i would consider getting anything that has a built in IR cab emulation like a Orange Terror Stamp pedal, Vox MV50, etc. Or a mini head like the Orange Micro Terror, Friedman BE-30, Diezel VH Micro, etc. Those don't have IR Cab built in but they'll definitely power a 4x12 cab and will sound much better than putting a mic on one of those tiny amps.

[iparsw]

If you mod that marshall amp and change the headphone output to cab output (only with cutting one resistor) and connect it to any 12" can you can get a pretty useable sound out of it

[SamuelisJonelis]

The Mini Marshall gave me instant black metal vibes (like Burzum or smth), but it is possible to go thru the gig w/ the mini amp (for sure).

[memorydrain]

Funny story. My amp blew, and I was due for some Misfits covers with my friends on a Halloween night. I stacked a Roland Cube, and this cheap 10w beginner Dean amp. lol. I was surprised. It did the job. I needed to sound like trash, and that was that.

[arikuusela]

I had a micro terror with me for a backup when we gigged more. Takes almost no space and works pretty well. I use mostly solid state amps nowdays, cause normally they go through a pa which is solid state also, so it sounds good enough for me. You can also do a easy modification and put a jack in your practice amp and use it as a head. Sounds good, no joking. I like the warmth of tube amps, but easy maintenance of solid states (plus they are cheap.) I recorded our last ep with Randall rh150 and it cost me only 150€!

[caleb]

I actually used this at a Jazz Band festival once - there was no power source on the street, so my director had me bring the tiny Marshall. Nobody could hear me, but it was fun :)

[mraycgz]

I heard stories about Dave Grohl dropping one of these in a coffee can and putting a mic over the top. I literally bought one of these to try it and it wasn’t horrible. It could definitely be something you could play around with. But even if you never do that walking around with that little Marshall clipped on your belt or pocket is fun.