Amazon sells a tube amp under $200?! Monoprice Harley Benton Laney Cub
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- I Bought the Famous Amazon Tube Amp - I wanted to hate it...
After hearing amazing reviews about this affordable tube amp, I had to try it!
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It seems like Laney, Monoprice and Harley Benton all use this same amp and just re brand it
#monoprice #guitarplayer #guitarist
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Amazon in Canada are pricing these amps too high. $250 US exchanges to $314 CA but Canadian Amazon is charging $411 CA. If the border wasn't closed I would just have one shipped to a mailbox in Blaine Wash. and go pick it up and it would duty free at that price but I can't do that right now.
The name of the amp company is Monoprice.
@@caiusmadison2996 I say that in the first 10 seconds i think 😅
Mine was a p.o.s. transformer went after a.month
Right now Amazon is listing it at $369 $100 more than a boss 50 watt katana..
JJ makes their own tubes. They aren’t a “rebranded” brand. Made in Slovakia. One of 3 remaining tube manufacturers left in the world. Russia and China are the only other countries still producing tubes.
Much appreciated addition!! Thank you
On the other hand, various resellers re-brand JJs (and others) under their own name.
JJTubes made their money with televisions.
China fakes
Wow, almost word 4 word!
10:26 Midnight train to Memphis! I love when I get to hear riffs from my favorite songs on gear I'm looking at. Really gives you a good idea of what it's capable of.
Thanks! Hope to have earned your sub
I can assure you that there's nothing to hate about this amp. People compare these to Blues Jrs, and many (including myself) think they sound even better. They have loads of headroom, and take pedals well too. $240 well spent, though mine was only $175 used.
Absolutely! Glad you dig yours
Steve Sterlacci the link says $328
@@Porkcylinder that's insane. Check monoprice direct website
Good enough for me thanks , I will get one 🤳
That’s a very well balanced sounding amp!
I just got one of these. Upon turning it on, it blew a preamp tube. Off to guitar center. I was going to change them out anyway. Get it up an running and it works okay, but seems to lack warmth in the low mids. The tone controls are very subtle. I use a mxr 6 band eq always on out of the effects loop to boost 200 and 400hz. I'm kinda feeling a little buyer's remorse. Still keeping an eye out for a nice old peavey...
The Seventy/80 speaker seems to get a bad rap but I actually like them. They’re a fairly neutral speaker but similar in some ways to a Classic Lead 80 which is one of my favorite speakers. They’re OEM in a lot of budget tube amps and I think a lot of people swap them before they have time to break in.
This Amp works well with a Greenback, Marshall Heritage G12 or Eminence GB128
Just getting back into playing guitar and this is my first tube amp. I really like it. Did an open mic and the guitar guys were asking about it. Thanks for the video, been looking for ways to get this amp to give different tones. Maybe it's because it's my first, but I love the look lol
Nice!! Glad you are getting back into it. If you dig the look, thats all that matters!
Great demo. I like how this amp looks.
The mirror panel is just so hard to read! Lol
I have had this amp for a couple years
So good
Cant beat it for the price
Has it held up nicely?
Unless you find a better amp for the same price
I have gigged with it a few times and everything is still stock
I would for sure say that if running in a band setup with no mics for the amp you are gonna be pushing that speaker past it’s sweet spot. Gets a bit muddy real high gain but it still sounds dope. I use a Fender Lead 3 through it everyday.
The fully driven preamp has an interesting wide open drive sound.
The EQ is pretty damn powerful at getting the sound you want.
The fx loop is a nice touch but i don’t know if i was giggling with it on a regular basis i would probably swap out the fx loop parts just to be safe.
I have run the gamut on workhorse amps under $400 and this one is a great little sound machine
@@jakeroberson2660 You should put that as an amazon review.
The new batch of these amps that were released (Aug 2022) do NOT use JJ tubes. I know this because I bought one and took the tubes out to examine them. The tubes are unbranded.
It's a great budget tube amp and it sounds awesome. The people who bought a previous JJ tube version, got a better value for money at the $280 price point than I did. But at the end of the day, a tube amp under $300 is still a fantastic deal. :)
I agree! Glad people are still enjoying it after all this time!
This sucks, I was considering one of these.
@@williamtm1965 tubes wont make a world of difference. You can always just buy JJs layer on
Best review on this amp so far. I realize there's different levels of players, if someone is just starting out they need info and guidance its good to get demos from someone about the same skill level. Usually when I'm researching an amp, guitar, etc. I've learned to check out dozens of videos because of poor mic'ing, bad room acoustics, or the person doing the demo sounds like they're inside the first 6 months of guitar lessons or self taught. They know 3 chords, and how to use them. Hey, they can play ANY song in 3 chords or less. I don't need another amp, but your demo has me getting itchy to get this one. It sounded highly usable.
Thanks Fred! I try to be practical
Got mine at $200... I thought it was a mistake, it’s as good as the Artist Tweed knock off of the Fender Blues Junior which was $360. It’s still a good buy.
I agree with ya! $200 is a great price for the sound this gets
This thing is crunchy! In a good way. And sounds nice clean even if there isn't loads of headroom. Not a problem for me. Bet it does take pedals well. Nice demo
It does the edge of breakup that I personally love really well!
You want head room
Loop out into a big amp with your effects out
Uncle Larry T-shirt is worth a thumbs up. Good review, too!
Thanks Corey! Uncle Larry Army!
I bought the 5 watt version when they first came out, a few years ago. I had planned on building my own tube amp, until I priced the materials. I got my 5 watt for just under $100. It would've cost me 2 to 3 times that to build the same amp. I've been using mine every day in a 12'x12' practice studio and it's plenty loud enough and sounds great. I love it! If it ever goes bad, I want to get the 15 watt version.👍😎🎸🎶
You won't regret the 15!
@@SteveSterlacci cool!👍😎🎸🎶
Bought one a few weeks ago to upgrade from a junky practice amp. Have been satisfied with it. Threw a distortion pedal on and I think I honestly like the amp distortion better. Great value for the price. I had unmarked tubes though.
Nice! Thanks for watching and adding this. I think the JJs are a new add
Yes @stevestarlacci the JJ tubes are as of late ‘20/early ‘21 I believe.
The "Look?" Kind of Fender tweed/retro/Euro(ish) faux alligator skin with futuristic 50's face plate? Sound is pretty good. The guts and speaker are putting out a solid sound such that you have to ask, "Why am I taking a $1k-2k amp or even 'effects' unit to this gig?
I agree with ya. Its closer to my '64 blonde bassman in color. The mirror plate is just the worst lol
That Les Paul is stunning.
Probably my favorite guitar ever!
@@SteveSterlacci what model is that normal customs don’t get the center diagonal line is it a 25/50th?
@@darklinkduck2275 its a limited edition custom. Like a 25 50, but better 😉. Only 24 made. Ive only seen 3 since owning it
@@SteveSterlacci oh so it’s a super custom
@@darklinkduck2275 as it became nicknamed. The super custom seems to be what they reissued these as in '84. Neal schon made them famous in Japan
It actually sounds really good with the reverb dimed
Its a solid amp!
I just pulled the plug on one of these on Reverb. I will let you all know how it goes. I have the smaller 5 watt and really like it. I have mostly Fender tube amps, BDRI, Pro and Music Master but this one seems too good to pass up. We'll see. Thanks for your review.
Seems like you'll like it based on those selections! Keep me posted
how was it?
I love mine, especially since I don't want to spend & 1200.00 on a tube amp. Awesome tutorial on the tones Thanks. Really helped a lot. Especially going from clean to dirty without pedals. And The attenuator on this amp is awesome. But mine didn't come with jjs :( i put a jj in the first tube slot?
it looks great, that's the best part of it..
Its def a unique look!
Iput a Mercury Magnetics output transformer in my amp. It livened it up nicely
Main thing with Tubes is they all come from one of three remaining plants. When you buy tubes from JJ or any other brand, you're buying the same tubes AND THEN that company's quality control. That's why cheap tubes can be good, but why some companies ALWAYS have good tubes. The good ones simply sorted out the undesirable ones.
Interesting! I didn't know that
I like mine. It has great Rock-a-Billy tones.
Yes!
Good review Steve
Thank you !
Misleading title. This is not an Amazon brand. This is from Stage Right, the house audio brand of Monoprice, a completely different business with its own site that also sells on Amazon. This is like calling a Squire Strat an "Amazon guitar" because you happened to buy it on Amazon. This amp is also the exact same as the Harley Benton Tube 15 sold through Thomann, also neither of which is Amazon.
Hey, thanks Dan. It became known to me and many others as the tube amp you can get on Amazon. I never call it Amazon branded nor titled it that way. You're actually the first person to even mention this as misleading.
Great reverb. But I prefer to see how the amp feedback response is with single coil pick ups. The other major function is how close the amp can mimc a bass guitar. I often look at bass amps wondering if any can duplicate this tube sound for a regular guitar (with maybe less pre-amp sound). overall I give this %91 rating even without trying to melt the tubes.
Can you please make a video with the cheap pedals and the mono price amp. This would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
🤠
Not bad for a cheap tube amp! Sounds decent, and your playing is awesome as well! Keep on ROCKIN' my friend!🤘😠🤘♥️🎸🎼
Shame you didn`t get the Harley Benton branded product in America, looks friggin awesome , but there you !
Yeah it definitely needs some help visually!
Having had both, this is just the former Laney Cub, which was great, and this is too.
that is what I have been hearing!
Solid review. I would spend the extra $150 and get the Bugera v22.
Imagine having that sweet Suhr guitar and being able to crank it. I weep. If it’s because of kids, you’ll be okay in a couple of years. If you live in a flat, get a Tone King attenuator.
It gets cranked. Dont worry! Lol
This is a re-badge of the Harley Benton Tube15w
It's a great amp - not for the price, a great amp full stop.
Definitely is! I am curious who the OG is... they probably all license the generic import
I bought this amp a couple years ago. I can't use it because it gives this high-pitched annoying Buzz or hiss that is omnipresent. I've never owned a tube amp I couldn't find where the Buzz was coming from. I haven't heard anybody else have the same issue But I know that it's not normal. It was sitting in a closet until I had enough money to take it to a proper amp mechanic to look at. I just got it to an amp tech. After all is said and done I've lost the cost of the amp and the $75 deposit I paid the tech to fix the buzz. After the amp gets warmed up it rattles and creates a buzz that will sit on the top of your sound. The tech said when he opened it up everything fell apart as everything was glued in. He tried to put in new tubes and it still made the sound then he said the speaker was causing it and that it would need to be replaced. It's cleap parts and glued together. Stay away.
Yikes. Thats an awful experience. A lot of people have had positive experiences with ut
@Steve Sterlacci I most definitely have not. I should have known better as the telecaster type guitar I bought with it had an issue with the toggle switch and string indentations on the frets. To monoprice's credit they took the guitar back. I'll never buy "super bargin" equipment again. You truly get what you pay for.
@@gabrieledwards1066 dang sorry to hear man. Its good to share these experiences though so others can see that as well. Thank you for adding this
I love my stage right.
Good sounding amp. Questions-- How noisy is it? You don't usually build amps that cheap with good components, so every amp will sound different due to resistor and cap tolerance. Also, the build of the cab looks like it won't hold up- not an issue if you intend to use it as a bedroom amp, but I'd get worried about it living in my band trailer. Third, using a load with an IR, was it close to what the actual amp sounded like?
I thought it was a perfectly accurate emulation to be honest (otherwise i wouldn't have kept it). Mic'ing with a 57 and 121 emulated is way better than i could ever get on my own. The cab feels pretty decent. I wouldn't trust throwing it around without a case as with any amp. The leather handle is actually better than any combo amp ive ever had lol I would consider re cabbing before taking it out without a legit case
@@SteveSterlacci That' what I figured, but wanted to clarify. I trust your ears.
Thanks Lee!
Sounds good👍
J&J Tubes and an Improved reverb is part of the reason for the price increase
makes sense!
Ha! Inadvertently you quoted a Spirit of the West song.
woops! lol
@@SteveSterlacci "I wanted to hate you, until I heard your voice ..." ('Let The Ass Bray' Spirit Of The West)
🤣🤣🤣
Hells bells yeah! Imma buy one I am!
Do it!
@@SteveSterlacci It's been done! Just a few days and I'm rocking! I needed tubes back in my life bad. I went to an Axe Fx 3 and while it's nice, I need the real deal under my fingers to get creative. Have high hopes that I can even use the two together to do some amazing shit.
When you first start playing I hear this ... sort of tremolo sort of sound... is that you, or the amp?
@@justinTime077 its my over use of the wang bar!
sounded good
Leslie speaker boxes are built of plywood. Do you think ebony would make a difference?
Whatever they say in the forums, right?! Lol
Sounds purty good.....A couple other amps out there for similar money just as good 👍
Great time to be a guitar player!
Are these amps (15 W tubes) "louder" than the Fender Champion 40 (40W solid state) ?
I would put money on it. But have not tested side by side. The 15w is loud
@@SteveSterlacci thanks for your quick answer
@@user-qg2uf8jp3h any time! Hope to see you in another vid soon
Amazon, huh? I've only ever heard about them through Monoprice. Got mine there a couple years ago. It's a really good amp.
They have their greedy hands in everything
👏👏👏
😄
I think JJ used to be Tesla. They’re based in Slovakia.
Kind of sucks that you didn't use a guitar with a hum bucker in it single coil are Chinmy Fendery resounding which is fine if you wanna go for that, but I would have preferred to see and hear something like a Les Paul through it
Watch the whole video lol Les Paul comes in the back half!
wow. you didnt watch for long did you?
@@johnw7777 definitely not! Sucks that he hasn't come back either. I miss out on a view and potential sub for no reason lol
just like the Harley Benton version?
Its identical. Just rebranded
Nice amp. But that shirt Bro. Detracts from Amp man. Lol . Great vid bud.
How dare you talk of my Home Skoolin tee in such a way!
@@SteveSterlacci Lol. I love Uncle Larry.
Hes the best+
Man, the more they sell of these the more the price increases. Started at $179? then up to $200 and now $250. Note: I thought they upgraded these and removed the mirror panel to a much better matte finish?
Yep. Word gets out!
I have an older version of this amp with no name Chinese tubes and the old reverb tank. The tubes are just fine. I did upgrade the reverb tank and it’s great now. The Celestron 70/80 gets a bad rap sometimes but with a few hours of break in it sounds good. For the real techies, the circuit is identical to a Laney Cub. Great amp, not just a great amp for the money.
I agree! Really sounds great! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Seth i really like this amp. i have a 2010 Blues jr which sounds murky,i need to get it looked at.this SR 15's a party amp,you could gig a small club or a field party with a 4 X 12 cabinet.it's a Bic lighter amp, so i'm buying another one...
@@qua7771 The amp is so warm sounding the speaker is a very good match !
The 70/80 in mt Laney VC 30 amp sounds too bright for my taste !
@@ijamsum I've heard nothing but good things about this amp. I'm thinking of modifying mine to get more gain.
I appreciate your circuit information, but then again... It shows what level geek I am!
This thing would be a modders dream. No reason she can't have nicer capacitors that aren't electrolytic/mica and a bit of a eq tweak on the board.
No offense to the guy who made the video, I do appreciate his time in making it; however, the playing left a little to be desired and it is not easy to separate mistakes from the overall feel.
I guess I'm going to pick one up and have a little go at it.
Knowing the circuit can turn this thing into a gem.
JJ Tesla tubes are Slovakian, and really the set in that amp is sold for over a third of the price of this amp. I am baffled by the price of this, because it is likely less expensive than the sum of the components!
Crazy right? I found out a lot about JJs in these comments! Thank you for adding to the convo 🤘🤘🤘
This is the perfect "shady bar gig" amp.
Id take it on a sunny day too! 😎🤣 definitely a great "throw around" amp
@@SteveSterlacci A couple of Boss pedals and you're even ready for the wasteland known as South Jersey :)
@@Dudeinacube idk if id even put these on the floor down there! Lol
@@SteveSterlacci LOL
@@Dudeinacube Nice Guitar Dude.
Wait. You have a Helix, a Stomp, a beautiful wife and you DON'T use an effects loop???
I'm just going to have to bang my head against my guitar. Better yet, I'm going to send Richie Castellano over...
Send him! Always love hanging lol
Play mine every day and I love it. I couldn't justify paying $500+ for a big brand amp with the same features.
Nice! Any issues ever?
@@SteveSterlacci No issues whatsoever. Awesome little amp!
I've had mine since before Christmas. bought on wish. Hasn't had an issue yet. Also have the small 6l6 monoprice. Found at a pawn shop last summer works great. Both sound great thru an eminence fender cab I have. It seems to have more head room than the stock celestions.
All that using a cab simulator, as I understand it? No actual representation of the speaker's own sound? No offense, but to me it's only half-reviewed. Please don't think I'm trolling, I totally am not. Just would have liked to hear the layman's version of the unprofessionally mic'd cab than the pristine simulation of it. Most users won't be applying it under pristine conditions. Otherwise, I enjoyed the post. Nice chops.
I appreciate this comment very much. Thanks for being a good person about it. I did mic up the 5w version if you check that demo out. Just as a workflow and living situation thing. Maybe I will do a part 2 when the situation presents itself to do properly
Steve after having my SR15's for over a year and a half I just tried setting the amp like you did in the video with the Volume on 10 and gradually increased the gain to see how much clean headroom I could get with no effects. Well I was sitting too close to my amp and accidentally bumped the gain up too high and just about blew my ears out. OK so turned my guitar vol off got about 10' away with the amp Volume on 9 and the Gain just below 2 I found lots of very loud clean headroom. Then found a very usable headroom range with Gain between 1 and 3 and the Volume on 9. Going to try it at a jam today running the main Volume very high and the Gain low, then put my pedals in .... So basically setting the amp up like your demo I found headroom I didn't know existed. Thank you...
Means a lot! Glad to help. Thank you for watching and hope to have earned your sub!
i got mine at guitar center used for $200 and I love it! It really blew me away, especially when I put an EQ through the effects loop. With just the eq and the on board gain I was able to get amazing overdrive. Very bassy, smooth when I turned the tone down, and when I cranked the bass is shook the house even on the low power mode. Get a really great response on low power mode without having the neighbors hate me. Very happy with this amp for major chugging, and its super crispy clean tones are nice too. It's also not very heavy. and it feels very solid, like it will last a long time. I can't wait to try the 50 watt head they make, might be amazing.
glad you dig yours!
I have two of these. One has the stock speaker, while the other has an Eminence Legend. Both have a Mesa 12AT7 in V1, and the one with the Eminence speaker has Tung-Sol EL84's. Both sound fantastic, but very different now. The speaker swap gave the one amp a very Fender-y vibe, while the other one retains more of a British Marshall/Vox vibe. The effects loop in these is excellent for delay, chorus, and flanger pedals, but I usually run both in stereo through the front end off my pedalboard, and use an MXR distortion pedal or a Behringer VT999 for gain, as well as a Klon clone for boost. Fantastic little amps. Loud, warm, full-sounding, hard to beat at three times the price.
Nice set up! Im sure it sounds huge 🤘🤘🤘
@@SteveSterlacci I wouldn't say "huge" per say, but it definitely gets loud. What's fun is when I run them alongside my '74 Bandmaster. 😁
I thought the amp sounds good, for the money, reason I chose to comment is mainly because I really like the way that you demonstrated it,
Great job! Nice guitar playing as well🍻
Thanks Paul! Means a lot. Really appreciate this comment
Well ain’t that a luvly jubbly tone. I agree though, not crazy about the styling.
Thanks bub!
I really was hoping to hear your opinion. Another video perhaps? Also, since you're using a reactive load box, you should try it with a Celestion Greenback.
Overall, I really dig the tone. Especially rolling back the volume on the les paul. Definitely worth keeping around
2nd that suggestion with the Greenback Norm. I run a greenback out of the little Stage 5 watt / 1 watt amp and is outstanding...
I use JJ'S in all my amps, they are Great Tubes or Valves
I have them in all my amps as well
Squier telecasters sound killer through these amps 👍.
Some of those are really great!
JJ has an actual tube factory somewhere in the Tsjech republic. Not Chinese!
Great to know! I was assuming it would come with the cheap Chinese knockoffs. Thanks for the heads up on them
@@SteveSterlacci - "JJ tubes are manfactured with some of the same tooling as Tesla tubes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_(Czechoslovak_company)). The old Tesla tube fabrication machines were physically moved from the Tesla Rožnov factory, Czech Republic by Jan Jorgo (JJ) to Cadca, Slovakia (some 50km east) in the early 1990s. Before 1989, TESLA was the main Czechoslovak producer of electron tubes. While TESLA vacuum tubes were exported all over the world, and were known for their quality, the company did not survive the change of economic system after 1989 in combination with the downturn in the vacuum tube market. JJ Electronic was founded in 1993 by Jan Jurco, using the old TESLA machinery for the manufacture of vacuum tubes. Eventually, JJ Electronic started to produce their own line of vacuum tubes and electrolytic capacitors, mainly targeted at high-end audiophile and guitar amplifier applications."
I just received mine, direct from Monoprice. $279.00 + tax, free shipping. Ordered 3/1/22 and received 3/7/22 via Fedex. Came double boxed and unharmed. I had ordered from Amazon for $9.99 (while waiting for the amp) and received a set of Kaish vintage "aged white" chicken head knobs to replace the amazing CHEAP-ASS plastic knobs that came on the amp. HUGE improvement in quality, and they look great!! The amp came with 1 JJ 12AX7 preamp tube and 2 other unknown preamp tube as well as two "no-name" EL84 power tubes. I replaced the preamp tubes with 3 JJ 5751's and the power tubes with 2 JJ EL84's. The speaker it came with is a surprisingly nice sounding 50 watt / 16 ohm Celestion "Type A." ($109 on Sweetwater) As a 71 year old ex-rocker turned blues player, I enjoy the sound of this amp.
Glad you're loving it!!
In what way do knobs offer higher quality? You mean just higher quality knobs. Might be dumb asking if this actually affects sound my bad😅
@@charlesfarrant6819, the replacement knobs are constructed of much higher density plastic. They have brass inserts and lock in place with a small set screw instead of pressing on and being held by friction. They look and feel much more substantial because the are! The original knobs are cheap looking and feeling. Obviously, the knobs do not affect the sound quality, but they do improve the appearance!
Just looking at this again and kicking myself for not buying when it was 150 or 200. I guess inflation hits everything though and there's been a shortage on tubes to boot. 279 is still pretty good for a tube amp, yeah?
@@kenlee5015 , I play through mine daily and have no complaints!
I got this from Monoprice about 2.5 years ago and it's my most-played amp, bar none. It's like a 15W Fender Blues Jr. clone and it sounds fantastic. I use the FX loop with my HX Effects and everything is wonderful. It's a beautiful pairing and very simple setup.
Nice! Did a demo of that one as well and I wound up keeping it over the 5w. Great amp
It is more like a Laney cub in my opinion. In fact I like my stage right much better than my blues junior.
@@guitareMTL it IS a Laney cub, literally. Both amps made in the same factory.
@@esdel1955 oh, I didn't know. I usedto own a cub 12 like 10 years ago with a rocket 50 speaker, very very crappy speaker. I like my stage 15 way better but that must be just the speaker difference, isn't it?
It is a laney cub imitation circuit made with the cheapest components possible, and of course, laney cub sounds better than this crap.
Hook it to a 2x12 Celestion vertical cabinet from Harley Benton (Thomann), it is perfect to put this amp on the top and you'll love it.
The stock speakers on these things sound gutless to me, and this impulse does, too.
All my amps are on 4x12s. Maybe i'm just used to that.
It sounds decent clean, a little too crispy at higher gain, but I'm not a fan of EL84s at higher gain settings. It's good to see smaller amps are coming out with full size 6L6 & EL34s more and more. I work on amps about 90% of the time, but for over a decade i repaired guitars. I used a 15W Egnater Tweaker on my bench for years first to test the guitars and later for when i was building OD/Distortion and Fuzz pedals. I wanted to make sure that a pedal sounded good whether it was run into a Fender, Marshall, Vox, etc. The switchable tone stack was convenient because i didn't have to run them through a bunch of amps.
The Egnaters were really popular when they first came out but you don't see them as much, which i think kind of baffles me. I bought the Tweaker when it first came out. There were a few design issues that i think they worked out, namely the buffered effects loop. Whatever the impedance was, it didn't with with everything; namely analog delays. If you ran pedals for dirt you were fine but if you used the amps gain, when you kicked on the delay you'd chop the high end right off. I know they would install a switch that would adjust it from line to instrument level, but you had to ship it to them and it was a hassle. The Rebel 20 was that same.
That said though, to this day i find it to be probably the best pedal platform out there, especially if you're not interested in spending $1400+ for some of the newer amps that are specifically designed for pedals.
If you use the "AIAB" type overdrives like DLS, Pkexidrives, Zendrive and other Marshall, Fender, Dumble voiced ODs, the switchable tone stack REALLY let's you get that most out of the pedal. What i found to be even more useful though was the power section.
The Rebels 20 and 30 come with both 6V6 & EL84's. So 6V6 will give you that softer attack that a Fender Tweed has, with a bit of sag and compression that sounds so good for blues. Or you go with the EL84s that have a more prominent top end and tighter bass with a bit of a scooped midrange that's really forgiving and able to handle more gain without getting woofy. You can blend the 2 which gives you quite a bit more headroom, but can be lowered from 20 (or 30 with the Rebel 30) down to 1.
I honestly don't know Egnater hasn't released the Rebel as a stand alone power amp. I think a 20 or 30W power amp that can use 6V6 & EL84s, and power scaling that can drop to 1W would be extremely popular, especially if you could buy it for $400-500. Especially with so many people using amp modelers and pedal amps these days. It really makes no sense, i think he'd corner the market, i mean there's the Mesa boogie 20W tube power amp and that's about it unless you go to 50W+.
The Tweaker though is actually even more versatile, though not as convenient. I find it's power amp to be an even bigger draw for me than the Preamp, and most people who own them don't take advantage of it and many aren't even aware of it. They come with just 6V6s, but you can use any power tube in there: 6V6 & EL84, but also full size 6L6 & EL34s. You don't have to bias them or anything like that, just pop out the 6V6 and put in other tubes. I used it with 6L6s for a long time, and it definitely gave it that bigger bottom end that Class A amps really lack. They do need to make the cabinet different though because i had to take the grill off the top of the head that acts as a vent for the heat, the full size tubes just won't fit with it on.
For $250 though these amps sound pretty good. I imagine they can be modified to make them better, though i haven't seen the insides so i don't know how easy or difficult they might be to work on. The Fender MIM Hot Rod series were a nightmare to work on. Between that vertical PCB, the cheap plastic control pots that were hard mounted to the board and the whole layout just sucked. You had to remove the nut and washers on every pot and switch. Then you had to go in the back, unscrew the board, disconnect all the wires and slip your hand into the amp so you could get behind it, then had to gently flex the PCB and kind of rock it back and forth to get it release so you could pull it out. I honestly don't know how i was able to work on so many and not break something.
Really cool. It could be interesting to see how the helix would work into the fx loop return of that amp. Might be an interesting option.
At that point i would rather just go to my PC
@@SteveSterlacci not thinking about taking my pc to a gig. But yeah ahahah
I have a small, personal home studio in my very small apt. For me, this is worth checking out. I can always sell it if it doesn't make the grade.
With a good speaker, it'll be a killer option
If you decide to sell hmu ill take it!!!
Oh no you're not gonna get me again. Because of you I have the spalted Maple Firefly. Which turned out to be a heavily flame quilted and only partly spalted maple. It's absolutely gorgeous and plays very well after a little bit of tweaking. Nice try though. Your buddy, Gale
Hahahah! Better luck next video then 😉😅
That means by this time, you have already ordered the amp? If you have True Gear Acquisition Syndrome like me at least....lol...
@@gt-37guy6LOL, Admittedly I do but I have the Helix so I'm not so inclined to get the amp.
@@galelongputt Somehow three tube amps have amazingly materialized at my place...wife confused...
I have started gigging with this amp, 15 watts. Just bought another one. I mic it through the PA at most gigs. The overdrive is phenomenal. It's a solid little amp, don't worry about the aesthetics. I think there is a semantics issue with the face plate. Give it a chance, In my opinion it kicks the Blues Junior's ass. I have several tweed Fenders, this amp does a great job for the price and is much easier to haul to gigs.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience
Love mine. I got it for 150 used and it sometimes has issues with grounding, but I still love it. The cheap cab kind of rattles in a cool way when cranked
Sounds killer maxed out. Great job!
Thanks! Much appreciated
Haven't finished watching yet as I have had one for years now. Only thing I changed was the Verb to a 3 spring model.
I got mine on sale for $179. It's a nice amp and is basically a Laney Cub 12. Check out more of the newer amps from Monoprice. I also own a few Vox and fenders. I will do a profile soon with the Kemper.
Nice! I have heard that as well. Would be curious to try a new verb in here. Its not very impressive. Base tone is solid though!
@@SteveSterlacci give it some time, pretty nice and the tone knob does some cool things. I did use the effects loop a few times but I'm no expert at all. Digging your channel man, keep at it.
NO ONE can hear the difference between pinewood or plywood or whatever... This is all marketingbullshit. Do I want to have a REAL wood cabinet? YES! But does it really make a difference in sound? Nope.
Im with ya!
Its nice to hear this amp with a decent guitar 🙂👍🇬🇧
Sounded good. I also hate the look of it, especially the weird Tolex pattern. The mirror front panel somewhat annoying too, but if the amp last without problems, it sounds good....
The mirror is so hard to see! You're right though. Sound is #1
@@SteveSterlacci Hi Steve...If you hit the amp hard with an overdrive or distortion pedal, does the amp hold up without clipping the preamp? Sometimes if a preamp doesn't have enough headroom it will clip and sound kind of harsh and not so musical. Just curious. Thanks.
Phil
Uptown, it's so ugly you could leave it in the middle of the road & nobody'd steal it! terrific little amp,i'm getting another for my neice
@@MrZootalores Funny....You must like it to buy a second one...
@@uptownphotography i do. i've been using a 12 yr old Fender Blues jr at home for the last 12 yrs while i've been playing bass in a local gigging band.so i'm away from the 50 yrs of guitar knowledge i have.I'm trying to get back into it as i can do it,as i've played local pickup gigs.yes, i will have to send the Blues jr to the shop..it really isn't as lively as a $250 Monoprice amp..durability?i'll take that chance,my Blues jr obviously crapped out as a "quality amp" so i'm loving this Bic lighter amp
best $250 I have spent.
For sure, very solid!
I have had one since June 2020, these amps are a steal. It is basically a blues Jr clone, circuit wise. Build quality is decent. Tone wise, it kills.
Terrible reverb, really dry and weak. Crunchier settings sound best. I didn’t care for the clean sounds. To me, the
cleans had no life or maybe it’s the way your guitars are set up. The Suhr has quite a bit of fret click so the action
must be very low. Sometimes that takes the zing out of clean settings. But that’s just me. I’d give it a B-; good price
but not a great amp. Better off spending another hundred for a better quality amp. I do like the Celestion as stock
speaker, though. Maybe a greenback would give a bit more overall tone, and that could make this inexpensive all-tube
amp a keeper.
It does seem like the 'verb could be mixed in a lot more. Even maxed out it still didn't seem there. I appreciate you taking the time to listen so closely 🤘
Hi Steve. I would like to know what version (model / year / ...) of Les Paul Gibson do you use in this review ? what's the model ? it is awesome...thanks for your answer :-)
Thanks for checking it out! Its a "Les Paul Custom Limited Edition 1979" 1 of only 24 made and I personally have only ever seen 2 im my life like it. They reissued them in 1984 as the "Super Custom" but they're not as nice IMO
@@SteveSterlacci So Beautiful guitar, really 😉
The price of an electric guitar is not a factor in how it sounds. You can take a 200$ guitar , set it up right and upgrade all of the electronics and it will sound just as good if not better than a 5,000$ guitar. All for less than 700$
Absolutely right!
I don't buy that "chinese tubes are crap" anymore. My JetCity JCA22h came with "chinese tubes". Hyped up by the "JJ-Fanatics" I started buying branded preamp tubes (sovtek). They just changed the distortion amount. There was a bit more gain available (slightly more aggressive/colder sound). But still it wasn't a life changing factor. I ended up putting the chinese ones back. I also checked with Ruby's later. There is no significant difference if tubes are operating normally. I never changed the EL84 to JJs as all the guys recommended. In my case (until now) the amp was properly biased and sounded great with other preamp pedals that I put into the return to bypass the preamp. For me the biggest change in sound and attack/dynamics is an OD pedal in front of the amp. Tube changes are for the nerds and "Tonewood" - fans!
"no significant difference" Yup, that's about right. Even the distortion/gain change wasn't a brand thing. I've tested hundreds of tubes on the same tester and there are wide variations in gain in all brands. The original tubes in the amp probably just had one a bit on the weaker side and the JJ that went in it's place may have even been above average, but that is just as common from one to another in the exact same brand and model. Some I've tested were weak enough they failed right out of the box (not common), and on rare occasion, I find one that has exceptionally high gain.
@@haplozetetic9519 yeah. that's where the whole "matched pairs of output valves" thing comes from
Seems good enough for the money, I'd make it a fun project and throw it all in a better built box if I were going to lug it around outside of home.
....But ok, after your Firefly 338 "I wanted to hate it" video and wild range of comments, including angry ones aiming for personal attack (while overlooking the video subject itself!), you come out with this one. How DARE you try something and then state what you do or don't like about it. THAT'S JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE! :) ....Steve, I'd double subscribe if I could. Thank you!
Thanks Arli! Lol yeah that was a fun comment section to sift 🙄. I answer all comments when I can because its fun to get feedback and be social with everyone. Least I can do for someone spending time to watch my videos! Sometimes, it ain't fun 🤣🤣. Really appreciate you 🤘🤘🤘
good review! Best review so far. Missing my dt770 pros by the way, killed the plug. Not having a replaceable cable is a bit of a killer once you do kill them. Had to go AKG for replacements. Still think I'm going for a Fender champ-reverb or whatever it is. Better tweed clean sound. Despite digital hall reverb. But pretty good on the monoprice or Harley Benton in Europe for 240 eruos! In fact amazing. Just too bad no clean tones past 1.5. Great and awesome for rock and blues though.
Thanks for checking it out! It does suck the cable is hard wired in there
Man, that Les Paul really sings through this amp! I've had my eye on one of these for a while. I was torn between buying one of these or a Blues Junior. The extra features on the Monoprice did it for me, but I live in Mexico and this particular model of Monoprice is hard to find, so if you want one you have to import it from the States. I saw these going up in price and out of stock at Amazon, so started looking at used Blues Juniors, almost closed a deal for one. Then one day I found a used/returned one at Amazon going for cheaper than retail price and pulled the trigger. I should get it over here in a couple of weeks and can't wait!
AWESOME! You're gonna love it. thanks for checking it out and good luck with it
JJ are very good tubes. Made in Slovakia. I use heaps of them and never had a single bad one. They make standard tubes which are very good and some enhanced that are even better.
Awesome! Thanks for adding this 🤘🤘🤘
It's strange that it has a tone control AND a bass, mid and treble. It would make sense if the tone was more like a presence control. Anyway it sounds like a good amp for the money.
According to the manual, the tone is an overall EQ after the pre amp section. Like having a tone knob of your guitar, but after the pre amp
@Baldspot no the presence control pioneered by marshall is a weird feedback loop from the output back to the phase splitter that seems tuned to give an upper mids control. it is not in the preamp or just after it.
There's only a few factories that make tubes, and they're in China and Russia. I got the older version in 2016 for $200, but the reverb tank sucked which I replaced with a MOD tank.
JJ tubes are made in Slovakia
Great Review !
This seems like a Nice little amp ... How does it compare to Fender CHAMP or PRINCETON REVERB ?
Thanks !
Thanks Rus! The 5w version is more champ like. A princeton reverb for cleans and overall tone will crush this amp IMO. Just my taste. This is more competitive with the hot rod series i think
I own 2 of these that I use in tandem, individually if I want to travel light. The more I run them as the tubes burn in the sound seems to get better. Having a Tone control as well as Bass Mid and Treble, the Tone nob totally changes how the sweep of the other controls react. I like the Tone on about 9 with the other tone controls generally somewhere between 3 and 5. Basically the more I play with the whole Tone section the more versatile it seems. I have been using the SR15 (Monoprice Stage Right 15 watt) for well over a year now coming from the Marshall world I am very impressed. Also I should mention that all of my guitars have P90's and I use a Tech 21 RK5.. The SR15 is not brittle clean like a Fender but probably more in line with a Vox. Having the opportunity to play loud out doors with my SR15's, they scream with out getting too muddy or losing your notes. In addition they tune down for the living room very easily..
Appearance is the most common complaint from other reviews number 1 is the chrome control panel, followed by the grill then the tolex color.
Also note that SR15 (Stage Right 15) is the Monoprice Brand for the US which also produces the same amp as a HB15 (Harley Benton 15) in Europe.
The only drawback to the SR15 is not being able to try them out in a US store, but for 249 I think its a killer amp and worth the risk..
you get what you pay for...the components wont be best quality and whoever made them is on very low wages..no way Mesa Boogie would be able to charge that little for an amp..
Thanks for sharing your experience !
@@vincentl.9469 I compared the SR15 to several US built tube amps, including a Blues Jr and after playing them the Stage Right won, I was a little scared about buying it blind but there were so many good reviews on it. I am not new to tube amps and I have completely disassembled one of my amps and inspected it it very closely finding that it is very well made. My impression is that with J&J tubes which are the heart of it can provide what I need. My SR15's are very versatile tone wise and with over a year of using them I keep finding more variation. One thing to take into account is the Bass Mid Treble controls are EQ's and mis labeled so you should think of straight up as 0 with -5 to the left and +5 to the right even though they are labeled 0 thru 10.
@@SteveSterlacci I like to run mine's Gain on about 4 so I do like it starting off a little more driven and the Volume set to what ever I need for the area, they really cook outdoors.
Oh nice review by the way..
I'm thinking of buying an amp. I'm a begginer guitar player. I have a Line 6 Spider 3 (15w.) and a Marshall MG10CD (10w.). I'm considering a Line 6 Catalyst 60w., and this Monoprice 15w. I would love to hear any good recommendations. I'd like to stay in the $200-$300 range.
This is a Laney LC15 copy. Harley Benton Tube 15 (Thomann brand) is the same.
Not bad at all for the price.
I got robbed. Mine didn't come with JJ tubes 😞. I swapped out the first pre amp tube with a JJ as per Darrell Brauns recommendation.