MGL AmpWorks 50W | Killer sounding JMP/JCM800 tones | VIDEO

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zzwish

zzwish

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Just had a chance to check out the MGL 50 and, damn, super impressed! It manages to retain the balls, bark, and bite of a classic amp while improving on all of the little idiosyncrasies that those amps tend to have. The top end is cutting but not brittle, the bottom end is tight but not anemic, you can turn up the gain with amp the amp getting bloated, the master volume is super friendly at even bedroom volumes but sounds killer cranked up. Worth checking out if you're into the JMP/JCM800 sound.

 
Was that some Ghost I heard in there? Those dudes have some great songs. Or I guess I should say the main guy who does everything has great songs.
 
That amp sounds great. How does it feel to play? Some amps deliver so much more in the way they feel which can't be articulated in clips...
 
bobbtoz said:
That amp sounds great. How does it feel to play? Some amps deliver so much more in the way they feel which can't be articulated in clips...
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It's great! It's got a fair amount of natural compression so it has that greasy, easy under the fingers, similar to a Friedman in terms of feel. There's also a Classic/Modern switch on the back of the amp that tightens it up a bit in the modern mode and has a bit more sag in the classic mode. Really handy feature depending on what kind of music you're playing.
 
I've been looking into the Wizard MC25 and the Morris 69/70. Have you had the opportunity to play either of those two amps for a comparison?
 
bobbtoz said:
I've been looking into the Wizard MC25 and the Morris 69/70. Have you had the opportunity to play either of those two amps for a comparison?
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I haven't, but from everything I've heard of them, they seem like they'd be great. Too many good amps out there haha.
 
bobbtoz said:
I've been looking into the Wizard MC25 and the Morris 69/70. Have you had the opportunity to play either of those two amps for a comparison?
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Might be selling my 69/70’. For some reason I can’t PM you.
 
halomojo said:
Just had a chance to check out the MGL 50 and, damn, super impressed! It manages to retain the balls, bark, and bite of a classic amp while improving on all of the little idiosyncrasies that those amps tend to have. The top end is cutting but not brittle, the bottom end is tight but not anemic, you can turn up the gain with amp the amp getting bloated, the master volume is super friendly at even bedroom volumes but sounds killer cranked up. Worth checking out if you're into the JMP/JCM800 sound.

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Halo, how much gain does it really have. Could you give a comparison? I mean this thing has me really interested but as always, if you aren't playing it for yourself, hard to tell. And I'd definitely rather have too much gain than not enough.
 
jabps said:
Halo, how much gain does it really have. Could you give a comparison? I mean this thing has me really interested but as always, if you aren't playing it for yourself, hard to tell. And I'd definitely rather have too much gain than not enough.
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It's definitely not a modern metal amp by any means. Pretty firmly rooted in the JCM800 level of gain. I have a portion at the end of the video where I run a loop through it and adjust gain/volume/eq that might be helpful. They also make a High Gain version of the MGL 50 that I have a video for as well.



It's pretty much the same voicing but with a bit more gain on tap. Both of the MGL's are pretty true to how JCM800's and JMP's respond where once you get the gain past 3:00 or 4:00 the low end starts to build up and it can get a bit flubby but they take boost pedals really well to tighten things up. That's also very common in that style amp. I've been playing Friedman amps as well for around 10 years or so. With those amps, you can max out the gain and the bottom end stays tight, but to my ears they aren't as true to a vintage Marshall in the way that the MGLs are with that traditional top end "kerrang" and slice. Just depends what you're after. I really dig both of them.
 
That Suhr Pete Thorn can you use in most your videos... makes me want one. I hate sig gear but at the end of the day.. everything you play through seems to have that perfect response to my ears.

is that cab magical to you or do you feel that other cabs can do a similar thing?
 
jabps said:
Halo, how much gain does it really have. Could you give a comparison? I mean this thing has me really interested but as always, if you aren't playing it for yourself, hard to tell. And I'd definitely rather have too much gain than not enough.
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Hi, Mark here from MGL AmpWorks. Both of our 50w amps are modded Marshall type circuits. The regular 50 can easily achieve JMP and JCM800 tones but has much more gain on tap. With the preamp knob set to around 6 1/2 it’s about equal to a stock 2203-2204 with the preamp decked. Many people use a pedal in front of those stock amps. The idea was to make a version that didn’t need the pedal unless you really want more saturation for playing leads. So this amp will cover classic ‘70’s rock tones and all of the way up into early ’80’s metal and more.

The high gain version shines for ‘80’s high gain Marshall tones and later. Plenty of gain for Drop D and other lower tunings. Plenty of thump in the bottom end and tracks super fast and tight. For a gain reference we compared the amp to my 1989 Soldano SLO. With the MGL preamp knob at 7 it was equal to the SLO preamp knob at 6 1/2. And on an SLO that’s already a lot of gain. The original idea for the amp was to try and capture that hot rodded tone from the amps that many players were having modded in the LA scene back then. But to make in a very user and home friendly version. So great master volume that can achieve very close to high volume tones at speaking voice levels. Most well made amps sound great loud but miss the mark at home or “bedroom” volumes. A very high priority for both model amps was to sound great at low volumes. I hope this info helps. Nice forum and happy to be a new member!
 
MGL AmpWorks said:
Hi, Mark here from MGL AmpWorks. Both of our 50w amps are modded Marshall type circuits. The regular 50 can easily achieve JMP and JCM800 tones but has much more gain on tap. With the preamp knob set to around 6 1/2 it’s about equal to a stock 2203-2204 with the preamp decked. Many people use a pedal in front of those stock amps. The idea was to make a version that didn’t need the pedal unless you really want more saturation for playing leads. So this amp will cover classic ‘70’s rock tones and all of the way up into early ’80’s metal and more.

The high gain version shines for ‘80’s high gain Marshall tones and later. Plenty of gain for Drop D and other lower tunings. Plenty of thump in the bottom end and tracks super fast and tight. For a gain reference we compared the amp to my 1989 Soldano SLO. With the MGL preamp knob at 7 it was equal to the SLO preamp knob at 6 1/2. And on an SLO that’s already a lot of gain. The original idea for the amp was to try and capture that hot rodded tone from the amps that many players were having modded in the LA scene back then. But to make in a very user and home friendly version. So great master volume that can achieve very close to high volume tones at speaking voice levels. Most well made amps sound great loud but miss the mark at home or “bedroom” volumes. A very high priority for both model amps was to sound great at low volumes. I hope this info helps. Nice forum and happy to be a new member!
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Welcome Mark. Do you ever plan on doing a 100w version?
 
LP Freak said:
Welcome Mark. Do you ever plan on doing a 100w version?
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Thanks for the welcome! We have thought about a 100w version and a number of people have asked. The main issue is the cost to gear up to do it and could we sell enough to warranty the start up cost. Our chassis's are custom made to our specs at a local metal shop and are .090" aluminum. Then powder coated and screen printed, kind of like the original Soldano. Minimum order is 25 units and then a new design for different transformers and 3 more filter caps. Then the parts expense and a pair of Merren Audio 100w transformers and 2 more Siemens power tubes. In the end the amp would have to sell for over 3K. So I'm not sure how well it would do. If I didn't think we could sell 25, it would be a losing proposition. So we'll have to see where it goes.
 
Also, wanted to give a big thanks to Zach for spending the time to do the 2 video demos he did for our amps, great job!!!
 
Faded Abyss said:
That Suhr Pete Thorn can you use in most your videos... makes me want one. I hate sig gear but at the end of the day.. everything you play through seems to have that perfect response to my ears.

is that cab magical to you or do you feel that other cabs can do a similar thing?
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Thanks! It's definitely a great cab. I don't know about "magical," but it's one of the best 2x12's I've played. My main cabs that I keep at my practice space and use live are an old Marshall 1960A with 2 Creamback 75's up top and V30's on the bottom and an EVH 4x12 with V30s. I'm sure there are better cabs out there, but they always sounded good enough to me on recordings or live. When given the opportunity, I'd typically go with a 4x12. This Suhr PT cab has the fullness of a 4x12 which has made it a great cab to keep at home and record with.
 
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