I recently purchased a Marshall MG10CF amplifier as a practice amp.

I have a Roland Cube 15XL in the living room, but when my wife is watching TV and the kids are in bed, I am not able to practice in the living room.

I guess I could always drag the Roland amp to the other end of the house, but it is much easier just to have a second amp to plug my guitar into.

I considered getting a VOX amPlug headphone guitar amp, but I figured for not much more money I could get a more versatile piece of equipment. Besides, the VOX headphone amp requires batteries, the Marshall does not.

Marshall MG10CF amplifier

I must confess, I am a little disappointed at the sound quality from the Marshall MG10CF amplifier. Even on the clean channel, the sound is distorted. Not so much a desirable overdrive of a cranked amp, but instead a muffled fluttering sound in the background.

The muffled, fluttering sound seems to be something built into the amplifier circuit because I hear the same sound when I have a set of headphones plugged into the amp’s output jack. Someone at Marshall must think the sound of this amp is okay, but I don’t.

Marshall MG10CF amplifier control panel

The amplifier has limited controls, as you would expect from an amplifier at this price point. The amp has two channels, clean and overdrive. The clean channel has a volume control. The overdrive channel has a gain and volume control. There is also a contour control — essentially a tone knob. The amplifier has a headphone socket as well as a socket to plug in a MP3 or similar music player.

I am not a huge fan of the carbon effect on the case. It is a hardy plastic case. Do not try to pretend that it is something else. I would much prefer Marshall spent some money on a better quality amp circuit than on the cosmetics of the case.

Overall, this is an okay first amplifier for someone learning guitar, but I prefer my Roland Cube-15XL.