The power tube (the 6V6 in this case) is controlled by the volume knob. It has to be set at LEAST at 1/2 way to max to get tone. That's why you buy small tube amps in the first place.
Ásgeir Þrastarson Seriously! What’s even the point of buying a non-master tube amp if you don’t turn the volume past 2. Those small amps live between noon and max.
You need to re shoot this with the amp gain up. Treat this amp just like a Fender Champ. You keep it's volume maxed and then adjust your guitar's volume to achieve the right volume/distortion.
I’ve been wanting to learn guitar along with my son that just turned 6. But losing my job recently all that got put on hold. I always thought guitars and amps were really expensive but after finding your channel I now know that not all of them are. Hopefully when I get back on my feet we will learn. 🤘🏻 keep rocking man, love your channel and am glad I found it.
Volume, the true tone know XD. Don't bother with that cheap guitar tho. A decent single coil and a decent humbucker equipped guitar seems best to get an idea what it's good for
Tube amps should be packed upside down on purpose. It helps the tubes stay seated in the sockets. BTW great review lots of fun to watch. Once the speaker breaks in it'll tame those highs. Cheers.
The reason I know this is because I once bought a brand new combo amp in the box. It was a Traynor YGM1. When I opened the box I noted the amp was upside down. Traynor left a note in the box indicating the amp was packed upside down on purpose to keep the tubes from becoming unseated during shipping. As far as why they build tube amp combos the way they do; well I'm not really sure to be fair. Have a look at lunchbox style tube amps. They are typically built with the tubes inserted into the top so they could be shipped upright without any worries about tubes becoming loose during transport. Cheers!
Lucas Crossley If they built combos with the tubes on the top surface the cabinet would have to be taller to accommodate them, and you would have to cut cooling slots.
I bought a similar amp that was branded Harley Benton, with the same Celestion, and tube complement. It sounded pretty horrible. I replaced the tubes, and then put in a different Celestion 8" speaker, and now it actually almost holds its own against my 1958 Fender Champ. But for well under $200 (including my mods)
Nice.I have owned one of these for about a month now. Sounds fantastic. Running it out to a 2x12 inch cabinet now . Only "problem" so far is I need to run it through an attenuator to turn the volume past 2 in my apartment - this thing is loud as hell (and sounds very much like an old fender champ). Well worth the price.
I bought this exact amp for my son (his very first). It does sound good clean. I picked up a couple cheap pedals to stick in front of it and it sounds pretty good driven as well.
brian burke ......and the TONE CONTROL on his guitar. Thats not only how to cut off the wincing hi's on the treble but also what those funny round white, round thangees are on yer geetar are for. These are sooooo much more than a "country" amp as he so tragically pigeon holed it into. Plus, this amp (as well as the stellar15wt rms version) is easy and cheep to mod into real deal tone monsters. What brian here forgot to mention is that with a $99.00 amp, your not getting weber speaker and vintage rca tubes, hence the nasty, tone void treble. Upgrade that cheepo no name 8" speaker and off load those even more cheepo chinese tubes and its another amp all together, a killer recording and living room jam tone tool. Not a good sell on this product, even though o/p "recommend " it. Not puting that custom shop strat to work was equally bad, especially turning off the amps treble instead of rolling off the bridge pup's tone knob as you SHOULD have done. This amp is MUCH better than sold here in this video and FAR from being a country amp only.
@@bennyh4950 not sure how you read all that into "use the volume knob!"...my only point was the amp would sound better from pushing the power tube a bit, lol.
It's actually a Laney Cub 8! Even made in the same factory, if I recall correctly. These are very cool; you should have cranked it up to full, that's where it really gets fun.
That actually sounds pretty nice , especially if you're broke and a beginner or something , it does that job, not fancy , but still great , with a guitar that is practical and stays in tune , one could actually get a really nice deal to start playing .
I just got this amp. I use a DS1 or TS-9 to dial in Sabbath/Sleep tones. I couldn't be happier. And you need to max the volume for breakup and then apply overdrive.
I played an orange micro terror through a 4x12 Marshall with cream-backs and I have to say... It was awesome!!! ...and loud enough to play with a drummer. I would love to see how this sounds through a decent cab.
I have the 1x12 version of this amp, with a spring reverb and it sounds really good. Pretty much only get clean tones out of it, had to get a pedal for some drive.
I got halfway through this video before I ordered one for myself! Sounds great, takes pedals well, and does a great job for when you don't want your 100 watt tube amp to shake your house! Under $100? A+
Lil trick for Monoprice stuff...go to Overstock and sign up for the emails, put whatever item you want in your cart, and don't buy it. They'll almost always send you a discount code in the next 24 hrs. Got this amp for $85 and free shipping.
Ryan I go direct on our silent stage, I use one of these as my back line , I crank it through a 1x10 jenson, I have the previous version with 1 watt and 5 watt inputs. This amp works best cranked. I too turn the treble down
I got one of these used for $100, and I feel the need to share my two cents on anyone curious: This thing is just awesome. Plain and simple. I run a PRS se 245 and a Ts808 and it is great for what I play. I play older Blues, Rock, and the occasional Rockabilly. This thing gets great volume, and break up smoothly and steadily. Didn't really have issues with the knobs, they (like the rest of the amp) felt like a decent build quality. It liked to sit a bit high on the treble end, so I have yet to move the tone past 4. The 1w feature is cool and fun for practice, but it does suck the tone out a bit. The 5w channel loves to break up and loves to get loud. I run a Ts808 straight in and it sounds great. If you are careful with your tone and volume on your guitar, you have access to all sorts of tones. It is by no means a classic tweed by any means, but it's tone is great, and for $100, you get a hell of a lot of tone.
I watched this video waiting for the bashing to start and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't really happen. I own one of these 5 watt Monoprice Stage Right amps and they are fantastic. They are 5 watts with button to switch it over to 1 watt, in case you are practicing in a bedroom, dorm room, living room and don't want to upset people with a ton of volume. I feel like the 1 watt feature was engaged for this video without it being realized (hence the low output.) To give some context I have a 1989 American 59 Gibson Les Paul, a 2016 American non-reverse body Firebird and a custom built ShiJie Tele-style guitar made in China this year (2021) and they all sound great through this model amp. The amp gets great low to mid-volume clean tone, lending itself over to pedals. When you dime it to 10 it sounds as good, if not better, than the Fender Champ it was loosely modeled after (no Monoprice isn't paying me.) I want to say thanks to Fluff for being sincere and honest in your opinion of the amp. I feel this is a great little combo amp for next to nothing compared to the name-brand counterparts.
Got one. Early versions had some QC issues but resolved. Solid box . . . clean sound . . . good basic design . . . takes pedals, so get your Reverb of choice. Its Big Brother 15W has a spring reverb box and there are some issues reported . . . Lil Bro's tubes 'mic' up a bit and you can play with that . . . Good Amp.
I have two of their 15 watt tube combos. Great little amps, very loud, but great tone. I'm kind of considering one of their larger amps, they're basically Rectifier copies.
I just bought the 15w. I spent a week with it already and i am very impressed. I only play it on the one watt setting because I live in an apartment. I was debating whether or not to get the 5w instead, but for another hundred bucks, you get waaay more amp for the money. You get a gain knob, three band eq and actual spring reverb. And last but not least, you get an effects loop and line out for external speaker so you can use it as a head. It's surprisingly well put together an has a really good 12 inch celestion 70/80 speaker in it. And yes it takes pedals extremely well. I kind of want to buy a 5w as well. I also suspect that they'll be discontinued and their prices will tripple on the used market. That's why i kind of want to buy a few more and just keep them in the box, in a closet somewhere for 20 years.
Good video. I got one of these last month. It is a clone of a 1952 Fender Princeton tweed. Volume on 5 is breakup using it at 5 watts, a little higher using the 1 watt.
The 15W monoprice tube amp is outstanding - classic rock tone in spades! It also has many more features like reverb, bass, mids and treble control, gain nob, loop, and a
I concur with the sentiment that you should try it turned up- most champs don’t start to sound good even clean until you get close to 12 o’clock, maybe higher! It’s the nature of the very simple circuit
I was gonna say that some times really cheap combo amps can actually sound pretty rad when you rewire them to have a speaker output, but this one already has one!! You DEFINITELY should’ve tried that out. If it sounds alright through that tiny speaker, it could sound GREAT through a couple of 12” speakers. Or who knows, maybe it was designed to sound the best with small speakers. Only one way to find out!
Awesome video I am a little disappointed you didn't crank it full blast to get as much natural overdrive from the amp as possible but for $100 I would be afraid of blowing it up? it will be interesting to see how these amps hold up over time.
Your strings sound dead, the guitar is out of tune and you didn't even touch the volume knob. Exactly how are we supposed to get any idea of what this amp is capable of?
Plug it into a 4X12 cab...big difference, although your close mic of the amp provides more low end than the 'natural' sound. It's very good for the bucks.
I have this same 5 watt amp. It sounds a tad muddy and I didn't break it in yet but a better speaker could open it up. My amp hums on the 5 watt setting. A really loud hum. I don't know if it's the amp itself or I have a bum unit.
I got a Bugera 6260 tube amp, 120 watt 2x12 speakers for $229 in 2015 (Musicians Friend) and it's pretty good; nicely built (really heavy) and sounds good. Three years later on the same site there is a open box one for $522. Seemed like a good deal at the time.
Yeah agreed. If it's anything like the old 50's Fender Champ the volume knob drastically change the characteristics of the sound. Not simply just an increase in volume, but how the amp responds.
I had two of them. The first one developed a noise after a few months, monoprice replaced it with another one. The second one just periodically die in the middle of playing and come back anytime. I just threw it away.
I can attest, this amp is a great foundation for a solid Champ clone tube amp. A simple Weber speaker swap and you’re in business with a very nice all-tube amp. The OP must not know how to run a tube amp though, you need to have the volume dimed out to get the warm tube response and attack.
Part of the brightness comes from the new speaker. Play some music through it a day or two while at work, it'll loosen up decently and give you a warmer tone. The speaker, once broken in sounds pretty good. I noticed you had the volume below half way, turn it up over half way the sound gets fuller. The stock Shuguang tubes are cheap, bright and brittle sounding, swapping the tubes helps a little. I'm running a Mullard CV4004/12AX7 and a Tung Sol 6V6GT. I wanted a Fender Blackface tone from mine, so I swapped in the warehouse Guitar Speakers G8C. It now really does good country, classic rock and blues. Plug that Strat into the amp crank both the Strat and the amp and have fun with Clapton's Layla. Do the same with a Tele and play some Joe Walsh's Funk 49. Back the amp down just off of full with the neck of either guitar and play some blues.
I have the 5-Watt and the 15-Watt models. Boredom + Stimulus = Monoprice. Yes they are cheap for a tube amp, and louder than you'd expect, but I'd have to say the sound is harsh for both. Using distortion pedals helps a bit, but still, harsh is harsh. Also tried incorporating the Monoprice V-30 open back cab. Makes the 5-Watt unit much louder, but still harsh. Huge difference when I switch to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. Maybe I'm just not using these amps right, but really I've never heard any amp sound so harsh. Trying to think of a better word - nothing comes to mind... :)
Would be very interested in a series about vintage on a budget, take the cheapest LP, Strat etc, cheapest tube amp etc and see if you can create that vintage 50-60 vibe that companies charge an arm and a leg for their reissues or custom shop etc. once again great review as always
How you doing Buddy? Mine was upside down too but mine didn't smell and was inside another box, packed well. They said I needed to put 20 hrs. on the speaker to get the great tone but it didn't make either one of my guitars sound to great. Its a back up and I've been using a Fender mustang 25 so maybe I'm spoiled but like you said $100 for a tube amp these days is hell a cheap.
Your best bet is to buy an Ibanez valve Jr. used, then theres only a few circuit modifications you can learn to do on youtube. A jamming monster once you hot rod it. 4 resistor changes. Then you can upgrade the output transformer if you want. Makes a great studio amp if you hot rod it. No reverb so you will have to use the studio reverb.
Revisit the Monoprice... the longer I play mine the better it gets, speaker seasoning??? ...yes, also more volume and tone modulation. Thanks. Appreciate your review.
Had to use this exact amp at my own wedding when my OR15 clunked out! (Sweating bullets!) Ran it into a 1x12 and our sound guy had me- lower the volume. With a nice reverb pedal in front, it sounds great. As a backup amp, it’s a lifesaver! On its own the 8” speaker dimed, gets a bit muddy. (His mic might be a smidge low, it sounds more full and that didn’t get captured here.) It’s certainly a home use practice amp, but using the speaker out, has got me thinking twice about “name brands”. This is an underdog, Herbie The Love Bug kind of amp. -Had the Orange repaired, but will always remember the time this got me to the finish line.
Interesting...its shipped upside down to put the weight at the bottom and protect the tubes and transformers. If you like that you may want to try the Ibanez Tubescreamer combo because you get a Tubescreamer and spring reverb in a similar speced amp. I have one and replace the Ruby rubes with JJs and it sounds great!
I have messed with modding this amp and with different tubes and a different speaker this amp really comes to life. Theres a 100uf/450v cap that if you change to 22uf/450v there is better bass response. Also the speaker i changed to a Celestion 8 15watt over the Super 8. Im using a 6n2p preamp tube with an adaptor and a 6p14p-k power tube. This little amp is awesome. But id pick the Bugera T5 as the best bang for your buck for well under $200. The price of these MP5's has gone up to $150+ so its no longer as cheap as it was 4 years ago and now the better value def is the Bugera T5. I own both and ive modded both and they are outstanding amps to my ears and im pretty picky on my tones. But the T5 i can get a great Jerry Garcia tone out of with my Wolf guitars and the MP5 gets 1972 ish Jerry Garcia tone. I run straight into these amps, i just use a reverb pedal with the MP5.
I'm not a pro but I do have many small tube amps. Curious mainly .. mostly useless for gigging. Its essential to dime them and surf the guitars controls. Some take pedals OK but invariably if there's a head version you want that and a 12" celestion 1x12 for any kind of serious work. Drop NOS tubes in tho and you can sometimes get amazing stuff out of them.
I had an ancient Harmony amp that reminds me of that. It had grounding issues, shocked people if they closed the ground loop. Example, standing barefoot on concrete, or leaning against a stove or pipe, while holding the guitar.
I got one. Neat little thing. I run mine with a bit more volume. Breaks up nicely if not pushed too hard. Not like my Fender PRRI. This Monoprice has surface mount components where possible. I have some better tubes than the stock tubes, and I do use a better 8" speaker as I'm not crazy about the Celestion speaker (what do you expect for $100? But, if it smokes, I'm not going to rip out my grey hair, and it's easy to carry. Oh, on my amp, the Tolex is lifting up everywhere. But, remember, it's cheaper than most of my pedals.
I have its Big Brother the 15 watt it takes a little playing because you have to break in the speaker and get the tubes hot but Monoprice makes a damn good amplifier oh, I only paid $199 for it but it sounds just as good as most tube amps for a small amp.
The power tube (the 6V6 in this case) is controlled by the volume knob. It has to be set at LEAST at 1/2 way to max to get tone. That's why you buy small tube amps in the first place.
Nicely done! Curious to hear how it sounds cranked...
love you Glenn
I was thinking the same thing. With the volume higher, it should have more gain... Kinda. Not proud of you Fluff!
MrSanitsuj I think you meant to say Fuck you Glenn
Same. Need a quick clip of I cranked all the way!
Was thinking the same! CRANK IT!
Should've tried the amp with the volume way up!
Ásgeir Þrastarson Seriously! What’s even the point of buying a non-master tube amp if you don’t turn the volume past 2. Those small amps live between noon and max.
wait so you mean to tell me you bought this made this video and didn't turn the volume all the way up on it lmao
Ahaha wooord, lookin forward to it then!!
365 likes
😹👍
You need to re shoot this with the amp gain up. Treat this amp just like a Fender Champ. You keep it's volume maxed and then adjust your guitar's volume to achieve the right volume/distortion.
I’ve been wanting to learn guitar along with my son that just turned 6. But losing my job recently all that got put on hold. I always thought guitars and amps were really expensive but after finding your channel I now know that not all of them are. Hopefully when I get back on my feet we will learn. 🤘🏻 keep rocking man, love your channel and am glad I found it.
Hey FLUFF! TURN THE VOLUME ALL THE WAY!!! 🐸
All the way off
Volume, the true tone know XD.
Don't bother with that cheap guitar tho. A decent single coil and a decent humbucker equipped guitar seems best to get an idea what it's good for
I was thinking the same thing
Tube amps should be packed upside down on purpose. It helps the tubes stay seated in the sockets. BTW great review lots of fun to watch. Once the speaker breaks in it'll tame those highs. Cheers.
Lucas Crossley also makes it easier just to flip over and let it slide on out
If that's the case why are tube combos built the way they are?
The reason I know this is because I once bought a brand new combo amp in the box. It was a Traynor YGM1.
When I opened the box I noted the amp was upside down. Traynor left a note in the box indicating the amp was packed upside down on purpose to keep the tubes from becoming unseated during shipping.
As far as why they build tube amp combos the way they do; well I'm not really sure to be fair. Have a look at lunchbox style tube amps. They are typically built with the tubes inserted into the top so they could be shipped upright without any worries about tubes becoming loose during transport. Cheers!
Lucas Crossley If they built combos with the tubes on the top surface the cabinet would have to be taller to accommodate them, and you would have to cut cooling slots.
yeah yeah yeah whatever but its U P S I D E D O W N
/s
Monoprice at it again!
rdavidr Hi how are ya? Quick question, what's your opinion on the Sabian B8 series?
rdavidr oh hi Dave!
Good beginner cymbals in my opinion, really nice for schools, practice kit and all that shit.
Honestly, that with a nice drive pedal in front of it and a reverb, it'd probably make a killer little living room practice combo!
I bought a similar amp that was branded Harley Benton, with the same Celestion, and tube complement.
It sounded pretty horrible.
I replaced the tubes, and then put in a different Celestion 8" speaker, and now it actually almost holds its own against my 1958 Fender Champ. But for well under $200 (including my mods)
Nice.I have owned one of these for about a month now. Sounds fantastic. Running it out to a 2x12 inch cabinet now . Only "problem" so far is I need to run it through an attenuator to turn the volume past 2 in my apartment - this thing is loud as hell (and sounds very much like an old fender champ). Well worth the price.
I bought this exact amp for my son (his very first). It does sound good clean. I picked up a couple cheap pedals to stick in front of it and it sounds pretty good driven as well.
Use the volume knob!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
brian burke ......and the TONE CONTROL on his guitar. Thats not only how to cut off the wincing hi's on the treble but also what those funny round white, round thangees are on yer geetar are for. These are sooooo much more than a "country" amp as he so tragically pigeon holed it into. Plus, this amp (as well as the stellar15wt rms version) is easy and cheep to mod into real deal tone monsters. What brian here forgot to mention is that with a $99.00 amp, your not getting weber speaker and vintage rca tubes, hence the nasty, tone void treble. Upgrade that cheepo no name 8" speaker and off load those even more cheepo chinese tubes and its another amp all together, a killer recording and living room jam tone tool. Not a good sell on this product, even though o/p "recommend " it. Not puting that custom shop strat to work was equally bad, especially turning off the amps treble instead of rolling off the bridge pup's tone knob as you SHOULD have done. This amp is MUCH better than sold here in this video and FAR from being a country amp only.
Ben Hubar pretty well sums it up
@@bennyh4950 not sure how you read all that into "use the volume knob!"...my only point was the amp would sound better from pushing the power tube a bit, lol.
It's actually a Laney Cub 8! Even made in the same factory, if I recall correctly. These are very cool; you should have cranked it up to full, that's where it really gets fun.
Fluff why do you hate treble so much? :D It sounded completely dead when you turned the tone off.
vojtasTS29 the mic is off axis, it was probably much harsher in the room.
Personally it really cut into my ears, and with the tone rolled off it was quite pleasant. Different strokes.
Agree
@@mrenice1262 not
@@thatssosanya not to mention different speakers/earphones lol
That actually sounds pretty nice , especially if you're broke and a beginner or something , it does that job, not fancy , but still great , with a guitar that is practical and stays in tune , one could actually get a really nice deal to start playing .
Dude why didn't you dime it?
Fluff - your face at 3:15 literally made me spit t0ke at my desk this morning. The look of "oh god what did I get myself into" is priceless!
I just got this amp. I use a DS1 or TS-9 to dial in Sabbath/Sleep tones. I couldn't be happier. And you need to max the volume for breakup and then apply overdrive.
Please please plug it into a 412 and crank up the volume! We need to know! :D
I played an orange micro terror through a 4x12 Marshall with cream-backs and I have to say... It was awesome!!! ...and loud enough to play with a drummer. I would love to see how this sounds through a decent cab.
I have the 1x12 version of this amp, with a spring reverb and it sounds really good. Pretty much only get clean tones out of it, had to get a pedal for some drive.
I paid $169 a few years ago for the 15W and it is KILLER. Real spring reverb, effects loop, 12” Celestion, 3x12AX7 and 2xEL84. Love that amp.
I got halfway through this video before I ordered one for myself! Sounds great, takes pedals well, and does a great job for when you don't want your 100 watt tube amp to shake your house! Under $100? A+
I own a lot of monoprice stuff, they're cheap but gets the job done.
Lil trick for Monoprice stuff...go to Overstock and sign up for the emails, put whatever item you want in your cart, and don't buy it. They'll almost always send you a discount code in the next 24 hrs. Got this amp for $85 and free shipping.
Ryan I go direct on our silent stage, I use one of these as my back line , I crank it through a 1x10 jenson, I have the previous version with 1 watt and 5 watt inputs. This amp works best cranked. I too turn the treble down
I got one of these used for $100, and I feel the need to share my two cents on anyone curious:
This thing is just awesome. Plain and simple. I run a PRS se 245 and a Ts808 and it is great for what I play. I play older Blues, Rock, and the occasional Rockabilly. This thing gets great volume, and break up smoothly and steadily. Didn't really have issues with the knobs, they (like the rest of the amp) felt like a decent build quality. It liked to sit a bit high on the treble end, so I have yet to move the tone past 4. The 1w feature is cool and fun for practice, but it does suck the tone out a bit. The 5w channel loves to break up and loves to get loud. I run a Ts808 straight in and it sounds great. If you are careful with your tone and volume on your guitar, you have access to all sorts of tones. It is by no means a classic tweed by any means, but it's tone is great, and for $100, you get a hell of a lot of tone.
I watched this video waiting for the bashing to start and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't really happen. I own one of these 5 watt Monoprice Stage Right amps and they are fantastic. They are 5 watts with button to switch it over to 1 watt, in case you are practicing in a bedroom, dorm room, living room and don't want to upset people with a ton of volume. I feel like the 1 watt feature was engaged for this video without it being realized (hence the low output.) To give some context I have a 1989 American 59 Gibson Les Paul, a 2016 American non-reverse body Firebird and a custom built ShiJie Tele-style guitar made in China this year (2021) and they all sound great through this model amp. The amp gets great low to mid-volume clean tone, lending itself over to pedals. When you dime it to 10 it sounds as good, if not better, than the Fender Champ it was loosely modeled after (no Monoprice isn't paying me.) I want to say thanks to Fluff for being sincere and honest in your opinion of the amp. I feel this is a great little combo amp for next to nothing compared to the name-brand counterparts.
Got one. Early versions had some QC issues but resolved. Solid box . . . clean sound . . . good basic design . . . takes pedals, so get your Reverb of choice. Its Big Brother 15W has a spring reverb box and there are some issues reported . . . Lil Bro's tubes 'mic' up a bit and you can play with that . . . Good Amp.
Definitely want to hear this with a reverb pedal and a proper cab. So far sounds like a sick value
I have two of their 15 watt tube combos. Great little amps, very loud, but great tone. I'm kind of considering one of their larger amps, they're basically Rectifier copies.
You nailed my first guitar tone with all the cheapest stuff
Are you sure that isn't actually a Cerestlion speaker?
The bigger version of this amp is only $50 more, and is a freaking killer amp!
yup
I thought it was 100 more.
Depends on the sale :) Monoprice has great sales -- I think I got mine for $160
They run 15-20% off sales regularly. MSRP is $199, killer deal with the sale. I put a CRex in mune, Love It!
I totally agree.
I just bought the 15w. I spent a week with it already and i am very impressed. I only play it on the one watt setting because I live in an apartment. I was debating whether or not to get the 5w instead, but for another hundred bucks, you get waaay more amp for the money. You get a gain knob, three band eq and actual spring reverb. And last but not least, you get an effects loop and line out for external speaker so you can use it as a head.
It's surprisingly well put together an has a really good 12 inch celestion 70/80 speaker in it. And yes it takes pedals extremely well. I kind of want to buy a 5w as well.
I also suspect that they'll be discontinued and their prices will tripple on the used market. That's why i kind of want to buy a few more and just keep them in the box, in a closet somewhere for 20 years.
Good video. I got one of these last month. It is a clone of a 1952 Fender Princeton tweed. Volume on 5 is breakup using it at 5 watts, a little higher using the 1 watt.
Johan Segeborn would make this sing like a Plexi!
that man could make a broken speaker, a goat and an old shoe sound like a Plexi !
The 15W monoprice tube amp is outstanding - classic rock tone in spades! It also has many more features like reverb, bass, mids and treble control, gain nob, loop, and a
Its packed upside down to keep the tubes from slipping out of their sockets during transit. Fender does the same thing.
The 6L6, 12AX7, and little celestion speaker alone are worth a hundo...
3:16 it’s the nirvana drain you tone
I concur with the sentiment that you should try it turned up- most champs don’t start to sound good even clean until you get close to 12 o’clock, maybe higher! It’s the nature of the very simple circuit
I was gonna say that some times really cheap combo amps can actually sound pretty rad when you rewire them to have a speaker output, but this one already has one!! You DEFINITELY should’ve tried that out. If it sounds alright through that tiny speaker, it could sound GREAT through a couple of 12” speakers. Or who knows, maybe it was designed to sound the best with small speakers. Only one way to find out!
Was waiting for you to dime it, never happened :( whyyyy!!???
I have a 5 watt mono price tube amp, and it sounds amazing when dimed!! Sorta like a "can't you hear me knocking" tone
The lowest volume possible :D
jacktheripped When it's on 10, like how a dime is 10 cents.
You are welcome jacky !
@@riffsnreviews dumbass
Awesome video I am a little disappointed you didn't crank it full blast to get as much natural overdrive from the amp as possible but for $100 I would be afraid of blowing it up? it will be interesting to see how these amps hold up over time.
That's how fender ships their amps, upside down😉
It helps the tubes stay seated in the sockets. It's not accidental. Cheers.
@@LucasCrossleyGuitar Makes them easy to unbox too. Just open it up, dump it out, and fling the box! Ready to go!
@@NeoRichardBlake Yes Sir!!! Cause when you get a new amp it's time to plug in and play!!
try turning the delie whackers on the headstock,might go in tune.
When someone is making a video with a guitar that wont stay in tune, how can we depend on his word on a product review?
Plug it into the 4x12 or in your best cab. Also it in a mix. Please
You could also switch out the tubes and gun it for some distortion tones.
Your strings sound dead, the guitar is out of tune and you didn't even touch the volume knob. Exactly how are we supposed to get any idea of what this amp is capable of?
If you had a properly intonated “cheapest guitar on amazon” I’d say that’s a pretty good tone!!
Plug it into a 4X12 cab...big difference, although your close mic of the amp provides more low end than the 'natural' sound. It's very good for the bucks.
Alot of companies ship their combos upside down like Fender for weight reasons and to help the tubes sit in better
I have this same 5 watt amp. It sounds a tad muddy and I didn't break it in yet but a better speaker could open it up. My amp hums on the 5 watt setting. A really loud hum. I don't know if it's the amp itself or I have a bum unit.
I wonder if it would sound better on a 12" speaker and or change the tone pot .
I have the 15 watt Monoprice tube combo. What a great little amp! Seriously, you can't go wrong with it.
It sounds just like the old 1962 Gibson Skylark I had for a while. It was also based on the Fender Champ circuit.
Volume at 2??? Why???? Volume at 6-10 Yes! 🎵🎸
some people have neighbors bud.
Is that a Failure poster in the back by the door?
Jack Reacher: "The cheapest amp tends to be the one you pay for"
I got a Bugera 6260 tube amp, 120 watt 2x12 speakers for $229 in 2015 (Musicians Friend) and it's pretty good; nicely built (really heavy) and sounds good. Three years later on the same site there is a open box one for $522. Seemed like a good deal at the time.
Yeah agreed. If it's anything like the old 50's Fender Champ the volume knob drastically change the characteristics of the sound. Not simply just an increase in volume, but how the amp responds.
I had two of them. The first one developed a noise after a few months, monoprice replaced it with another one. The second one just periodically die in the middle of playing and come back anytime. I just threw it away.
Celestion speaker and a 6L6, hard to make it sound terrible.. but of course (as mentioned below) turning up the volume will bring the 6L6 to live...
I can attest, this amp is a great foundation for a solid Champ clone tube amp. A simple Weber speaker swap and you’re in business with a very nice all-tube amp. The OP must not know how to run a tube amp though, you need to have the volume dimed out to get the warm tube response and attack.
Part of the brightness comes from the new speaker. Play some music through it a day or two while at work, it'll loosen up decently and give you a warmer tone. The speaker, once broken in sounds pretty good. I noticed you had the volume below half way, turn it up over half way the sound gets fuller. The stock Shuguang tubes are cheap, bright and brittle sounding, swapping the tubes helps a little. I'm running a Mullard CV4004/12AX7 and a Tung Sol 6V6GT. I wanted a Fender Blackface tone from mine, so I swapped in the warehouse Guitar Speakers G8C. It now really does good country, classic rock and blues.
Plug that Strat into the amp crank both the Strat and the amp and have fun with Clapton's Layla. Do the same with a Tele and play some Joe Walsh's Funk 49. Back the amp down just off of full with the neck of either guitar and play some blues.
Yeah... Nobody wants to hear tube break up! We got a good idea in that little 40 seconds of your fantastic playing.
You should have cranked it for power tube distortion. Fender champs sound great dimed, I'm wondering what it sounds like with everything on 10
That 15 watt version seem mighty tempting. All tube, celestion speaker. Wow.
Heh. I was able to get my Marshall mg30cfx for 45! Did wait forever for it though
Sounds ok, when you connect it to 2x12 or even single 12" cab
Would like to hear the 15 watt version. It has an effects loop and more eq.
I love mine. I have the older model. It's very much a tweed sound when cranked. I bought it for a laugh and it ended up being my main home amp.
What is that Failure poster in the back? An album cover or WHUT? Love the band BTW
What i got from your review: i need to find another review to actually hear someone test this amp...
I have the 5-Watt and the 15-Watt models. Boredom + Stimulus = Monoprice. Yes they are cheap for a tube amp, and louder than you'd expect, but I'd have to say the sound is harsh for both. Using distortion pedals helps a bit, but still, harsh is harsh. Also tried incorporating the Monoprice V-30 open back cab. Makes the 5-Watt unit much louder, but still harsh.
Huge difference when I switch to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. Maybe I'm just not using these amps right, but really I've never heard any amp sound so harsh. Trying to think of a better word - nothing comes to mind... :)
Would be very interested in a series about vintage on a budget, take the cheapest LP, Strat etc, cheapest tube amp etc and see if you can create that vintage 50-60 vibe that companies charge an arm and a leg for their reissues or custom shop etc. once again great review as always
If i am not mistaken that amp is a re branded VHT the early ones still had the VHT logo on the board
oops My mistake not VHT a re branded Laney
I have the 15w version of this, and its awesome. Really really good
How you doing Buddy? Mine was upside down too but mine didn't smell and was inside another box, packed well. They said I needed to put 20 hrs. on the speaker to get the great tone but it didn't make either one of my guitars sound to great. Its a back up and I've been using a Fender mustang 25 so maybe I'm spoiled but like you said $100 for a tube amp these days is hell a cheap.
The big question, does it really have a 6V6 and 12AX7 or the Russian/Chinese variants?
Are those ATC midrange drivers in those monitors in the background?
Your best bet is to buy an Ibanez valve Jr. used, then theres only a few circuit modifications you can learn to do on youtube. A jamming monster once you hot rod it. 4 resistor changes. Then you can upgrade the output transformer if you want. Makes a great studio amp if you hot rod it. No reverb so you will have to use the studio reverb.
Love it. That young kids can get their hands on a real tube amp on a budget. And it looks good too!
Revisit the Monoprice... the longer I play mine the better it gets, speaker seasoning??? ...yes, also more volume and tone modulation. Thanks. Appreciate your review.
I got the 15w and it's pretty damn decent once the speaker breaks in.
It would be interesting to hear it pushed a bit higher. Reminds me of my tweed champ only a bit harsher.
I have a 5 watt and a 15watt.....awesome amps!
Had to use this exact amp at my own wedding when my OR15 clunked out! (Sweating bullets!) Ran it into a 1x12 and our sound guy had me- lower the volume. With a nice reverb pedal in front, it sounds great. As a backup amp, it’s a lifesaver! On its own the 8” speaker dimed, gets a bit muddy. (His mic might be a smidge low, it sounds more full and that didn’t get captured here.) It’s certainly a home use practice amp, but using the speaker out, has got me thinking twice about “name brands”. This is an underdog, Herbie The Love Bug kind of amp. -Had the Orange repaired, but will always remember the time this got me to the finish line.
First amp i ever had was a kustom kga10 practice amp back in 2007. It wasn't too bad imo
Interesting...its shipped upside down to put the weight at the bottom and protect the tubes and transformers. If you like that you may want to try the Ibanez Tubescreamer combo because you get a Tubescreamer and spring reverb in a similar speced amp. I have one and replace the Ruby rubes with JJs and it sounds great!
I think if you add a eq pedal so you can change the eq and get a decent distortion and a reverb or delay i don’t think it would sound bad.
I have messed with modding this amp and with different tubes and a different speaker this amp really comes to life. Theres a 100uf/450v cap that if you change to 22uf/450v there is better bass response. Also the speaker i changed to a Celestion 8 15watt over the Super 8. Im using a 6n2p preamp tube with an adaptor and a 6p14p-k power tube. This little amp is awesome. But id pick the Bugera T5 as the best bang for your buck for well under $200. The price of these MP5's has gone up to $150+ so its no longer as cheap as it was 4 years ago and now the better value def is the Bugera T5. I own both and ive modded both and they are outstanding amps to my ears and im pretty picky on my tones. But the T5 i can get a great Jerry Garcia tone out of with my Wolf guitars and the MP5 gets 1972 ish Jerry Garcia tone. I run straight into these amps, i just use a reverb pedal with the MP5.
Oh yeah save yourself some money and buy the monoprice version over the Harley Benton version. Its the same amp and Benton charges more.
Oh yeah and they pack tubes amps like that (upside down) so the tubes stay in the sockets. ;-)
I'm not a pro but I do have many small tube amps.
Curious mainly .. mostly useless for gigging.
Its essential to dime them and surf the guitars controls.
Some take pedals OK but invariably if there's a head version you want that and a 12" celestion 1x12 for any kind of serious work.
Drop NOS tubes in tho and you can sometimes get amazing stuff out of them.
Would have been nice to have heard it wound up, and also maybe into a decent IR?
I had an ancient Harmony amp that reminds me of that. It had grounding issues, shocked people if they closed the ground loop. Example, standing barefoot on concrete, or leaning against a stove or pipe, while holding the guitar.
I got one. Neat little thing. I run mine with a bit more volume. Breaks up nicely if not pushed too hard. Not like my Fender PRRI. This Monoprice has surface mount components where possible. I have some better tubes than the stock tubes, and I do use a better 8" speaker as I'm not crazy about the Celestion speaker (what do you expect for $100? But, if it smokes, I'm not going to rip out my grey hair, and it's easy to carry. Oh, on my amp, the Tolex is lifting up everywhere. But, remember, it's cheaper than most of my pedals.
I have its Big Brother the 15 watt it takes a little playing because you have to break in the speaker and get the tubes hot but Monoprice makes a damn good amplifier oh, I only paid $199 for it but it sounds just as good as most tube amps for a small amp.