N A D Monoprice 15w

[GHS]

Monoprice 15w 12" amp arrived today. Came triple boxed, amp suspended by dense foam corners, no visible damage to the amp. Very nice rough texture cover, speaker cover is dark blk/brown color with just a hint of gold thread running thru it, very classy/classic look. All corners have chrome protectors screwed in place. Four solid rubber feet, good grip. The handle appears to be leather, double stitched, very solid feel to it. The front mounted controls feel very positive, smooth, good resistance, not cheap feeling at all. The tone controls do provide "tone" control, the effect is very positive. Went you want more "bass" you got it. Same goes for the others. The reverb is awesome, a little goes a long way. In a 15 x 15 room around 3 or 4 provides a nice amount for jazz tunes on an Epiphone dot. When volume is set at 5 ( mid point) and the gain is turned up ( a little) it gets very loud very fast. Gain is sensitive. Plugging in a telecaster using bridge pick up ( slight hum with that), and the volume edged up it really cranks out some volume, more than would be comfortable in that room. Room is very lively with hard floor and wood walls so there is no sound absorption so that plays into the hard, sharp telecaster sound. So right now I have to give this a thumbs up. For playing in the home, the 12" Celestion 80/70 provides excellent tone, solid bass, good highs, just right. I dont know how this would work in a larger room as I just got this and just running thru making sure everything works. Now, I'm not an amp expert, I'm new to this, but not new to what sounds good. So far I'm impressed, especially at the price you can get this for. My instructor is a Fender guy, fantastic jazz player, ( and everything else for that matter), and he plays out a lot. Has some classic amps I'm listened to. They're tone monsters...and loud...even outside. But I'm not playing out so this works for me...so far. If I've forgotten to mention anything let me know. Oh he 1watt selection cuts volume and tone down a lot. Good for quiet practice but if you want tone you need the 15 watt setting.

[Steve DeRosa]

Thanks to internationalization of production and the availability of decent-quality tubes from the former Eastern Bloc countries (yours should have Ruby Tubes according to the website photo) - arguably spearheaded by Bugera in the early-2K's - there's a whole bunch of good-sounding low- to mid-powered import tube amps, priced for the Working Joe/Jane who doesn't want/need to sink $1K+ into something that's going to be used primarily for home practice/recording or playing small- to medium-size venues on the local level. If I were you I'd run this one by your instructor at your next lesson to get his feedback (pun intended) - if he's a hardcore Fender guy I'm sure he'll draw comparisons to the similarly-powered Blues Junior and/or early-80s Super Champ - and in the meantime use it well, often and LOUD...

[Jaden]

Good review and good reading. I don’t ever see Monoprice or Bugera in my neck of the woods but I have little doubt about the value of what you have. Amp cover included as well, nice! I paid much more for my 2 Fender amps of same wattage. No covers included, which would have been much appreciated. Hint hint Fender.

[GHS]

Thanks Steve for your input on this amp, really helped in making a decision on the purchase. Has that 50's/60's look and tone I like and looks good doing it. While the videos of youtube give you an idea of the mechanics of it, to hear/feel in in person is a whole 'nuther thing. Cant say enough good about it. You can see my instructor on youtube. Type in song "Lets get Started" by Carlos Colina and Straight Up. Very cool jazzy blues...he's the lead guitar on the left. You ca see his super reverb and blues jr. on the floor behind him along with a telecaster parked there, real wizard forsure.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by GHS

Thanks Steve for your input on this amp, really helped in making a decision on the purchase. Has that 50's/60's look and tone I like and looks good doing it. While the videos of youtube give you an idea of the mechanics of it, to hear/feel in in person is a whole 'nuther thing. Cant say enough good about it. You can see my instructor on youtube. Type in song "Lets get Started" by Carlos Colina and Straight Up. Very cool jazzy blues...he's the lead guitar on the left. You ca see his super reverb and blues jr. on the floor behind him along with a telecaster parked there, real wizard forsure.

Very cool Interestingly enough on Gear Slutz the Monoprice is regarded as one of better value priced tube amp options even by some of the grouchy oldsters.

As for the Ruby tubes Steve mentioned from what I understand Ruby is a distributor (does not make tubes) who utilizes tubes made in China , Russia, and Slovakia . The good news is (again as I understand it) that Ruby tests the tubes for matching specks.
My amp tech is a big fan of JJ tubes (made in Slovakia) which Ruby uses also, but my guess would be in the MonoPrice they are Shuguang or Russian tubes (which is not necessarily a bad thing at all )

[hat]

I've been checking those out - actually watching for a sale or discount to come up on them somewhere...

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by KevWind

...As for the Ruby Tubes Steve mentioned. from what I understand Ruby is a distributor (does not make tubes) who utilizes tubes made in China, Russia, and Slovakia. The good news is (again as I understand it) that Ruby tests the tubes for matching specks.

My amp tech is a big fan of JJ tubes (made in Slovakia) which Ruby uses also, but my guess would be in the MonoPrice they are Shuguang or Russian tubes (which is not necessarily a bad thing at all).

Ruby Tubes is indeed a distributor, Kev - as is just about anyplace that sells tubes these days. As you state, they secure their tubes from a variety of sources and test/match them prior to sale, so you're spared the trouble of cherry-picking the "good ones" at your neighborhood electronics supply house; as far as tube quality is concerned, if you have Chinese EL84's in your amp (as do most name-brand Pac-Rim import amps) the first thing you want to do is swap them for something more toneful and reliable (the 12AX7's are good if you favor a lot of preamp grind and gain) - which IME means East European tubes (unless you're willing to pay outlandish prices for NOS). While I've heard some good things about/from Slovakian EL84's (TMK Fender uses them in their Blues Junior/Pro Junior and Bassbreaker amps) I'm partial to the Soviet-era mil-spec distributed by thetubestore.com under their Preferred Series house label; FYI these are the Russian equivalent of those JAN tubes the hardcore Fender guys would sell their 'nads to get - every bit as tough as their origins imply, and if you're looking for a "lifetime" tube (these are guaranteed for 10K+ hours of use under military conditions - a casual player like the OP may never need another set) at a reasonable price, I can't think of a better way to go...

[GHS]

Originally Posted by Jaden

Good review and good reading. I don’t ever see Monoprice or Bugera in my neck of the woods but I have little doubt about the value of what you have. Amp cover included as well, nice! I paid much more for my 2 Fender amps of same wattage. No covers included, which would have been much appreciated. Hint hint Fender.

By cover I mean the "covering" the vinyl covering on the amp itself. Has a 50's look to it and seems to be of good quality thick with no wrinkles on the installation. I forgot to mention that although it has a 1 watt setting for quiet playing at night, all the tone is pretty much lost with this. But it does serve its purpose well.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by hat

I've been checking those out - actually watching for a sale or discount to come up on them somewhere...

I have been following posts and evaluations on the net for these for about six months before ordering one. While it is really no money in the world of amps I didn't want to just waste it either. I'm not really a hard rock player but the gain does provide good crunch/distortion without getting to ridiculous volume levels. I mean, yes you do have to go louder to get it but its not like my buddies twin which beyond 2 or 3 on the dial you need ear protection ( or am I just old ).

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Ruby Tubes is indeed a distributor, Kev - as is just about anyplace that sells tubes these days. As you state, they secure their tubes from a variety of sources and test/match them prior to sale, so you're spared the trouble of cherry-picking the "good ones" at your neighborhood electronics supply house; as far as tube quality is concerned, if you have Chinese EL84's in your amp (as do most name-brand Pac-Rim import amps) the first thing you want to do is swap them for something more toneful and reliable (the 12AX7's are good if you favor a lot of preamp grind and gain) - which IME means East European tubes (unless you're willing to pay outlandish prices for NOS). While I've heard some good things about/from Slovakian EL84's (TMK Fender uses them in their Blues Junior/Pro Junior and Bassbreaker amps) I'm partial to the Soviet-era mil-spec distributed by thetubestore.com under their Preferred Series house label; FYI these are the Russian equivalent of those JAN tubes the hardcore Fender guys would sell their 'nads to get - every bit as tough as their origins imply, and if you're looking for a "lifetime" tube (these are guaranteed for 10K+ hours of use under military conditions - a casual player like the OP may never need another set) at a reasonable price, I can't think of a better way to go...

Yes the world of tubes is an entire additional learning curve I have found out.
And I remember that you like the Thetubestore Preferred Series

Something that was quite fortuitous for me was having moved from the Northern Front range of Colorado to the middle of nowhere Wyoming in October. I fully expected to have to go the 180 miles to Salt Lake City to find an amp tech. But as it turns out there is actually guy in the nearest town 26 miles away who's day job is radio communications and tech. who is also a long time guitar tube amp tech.
When I inadvertently ran a hot high gain signal into my Supro it started hissing big time and I thought I had probably blown a preamp tube . But as it turns out I had actually done something to one of the Sovtek 6L6 power tubes. Which he found out by testing all the tubes in his vintage commercial tube tester machine .
This amp tech told me he does not particularly care for Sovtek tubes and suggested I try some JJ's we put them in and I am really pleased. And what was kind of interesting is the Supro supplied preamp tubes were all JJ also .

[GHS]

Just an update on the amp if some folks were thinking about getting one. After playing for a bit and having a friend come over to try it, the amp seems to prefer the tone of the Fender/Squier telecaster/stratocaster pickup system than the Epiphone Les Paul/Dot series of humbucker pickups. The amp gets very loud very quick with just a bit ( #3-4) on the gain. While the humbuckers get a bit muddy with gain the single coils seem to get better. With volume at 50% and gain up to 5 it gets "uncomfortable" in a lively 25 x 12 or so room. Still experimenting on finding the right combination for the humbucker guitars.

[lkingston]

This guy likes it as much as I do!

https://youtu.be/bF20Ed2RvXY

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by GHS

Just an update on the amp if some folks were thinking about getting one. After playing for a bit and having a friend come over to try it, the amp seems to prefer the tone of the Fender/Squier telecaster/stratocaster pickup system than the Epiphone Les Paul/Dot series of humbucker pickups. The amp gets very loud very quick with just a bit ( #3-4) on the gain. While the humbuckers get a bit muddy with gain the single coils seem to get better. With volume at 50% and gain up to 5 it gets "uncomfortable" in a lively 25 x 12 or so room. Still experimenting on finding the right combination for the humbucker guitars.

My experience with a Laney Cub (rebadged Monoprice, really) is that these amps are quite dark sounding with HB's. Diming the tone knob to the treble will help with some of it, but I feel it's just the nature of these amps.