My son has been taking guitar lessons for a couple months now, and in addition to wanting every expensive guitar in the world, has decided that a set of Marshall Stacks would be really cool. Well it's too soon for that, and I don't have money for a stack of Marshalls.

We made a compromise of sorts. Yes, this is a "Marshall Amp" of sorts, but in reality the MS2 Mini is more of a novelty and fun toy than an amplifier.

What exactly IS a Marshall MS2 Mini Practice Amplifier??

The Marshall Mini is a clip on speaker that allows you to play guitar and hear it. The kick is that this little portable speaker (which is really pretty much all it is) looks like a mini version of the famous Marshall Stack with speaker and head unit! Indeed the speaker is in the speaker part, and you can plug your full sized guitar cord into the input, and you get a volume control and tone control and a knob that allows you to turn on the power, or flip it one more position for OVERDRIVE mode. Yup, even though this is a small little clip on speaker for your guitar, it has an overdrive switch that lets you go from a clean sound to a distortion sound! A small red light lets you know this is on. (so to review, across the head unit: input, volume control, tone control, on/off/overdrive control and red power light) The headphone output and AC input are on the side. The carry on strap on top isn't real it is just a detail molded into the plastic (not to worry, this Mini Marshall hardly weighs anything). A clip on the back lets you strap it to your belt.

How Does it Sound?

Realistically, this doesn't give you a full rich sound, it is too small for that. However, for what it is, it doesn't sound bad. You've got a small Amplifier, which I would compare to the portable speakers marketed at the IPOD crowd. The Marshall Mini is so small you can throw it in your guitar case, and it is loud enough so if you have your guitar, you can play it for your friends in a small room. (like my living room). It gives just enough amplification to be heard. The overdrive mode adds just enough distortion to give a distinct sound. The "Clean" sound is sort of clean, but due to the size, isn't all that clean, and the Overdrive mode, gives you the "distortion" sound which is just distorted enough to give you that fuzzy effect of many heavy metal artists.

How Big is it?

The Marshall Mini really is little, its scarcely 2 inches deep, and it is about 6" in height and 4" in width. It has a clip on the back, so that you can clip it right to your belt and practice with it. When you are done, it's small enough to throw in your gig bag. It weighs about half a pound or so (my guesstimate).

Fun Factor

This isn't a serious amp, you can use it for practice or just as a quick and easy solution to let your friends hear the new song you are learning (or learned). My son and I bought it because it was portable and because we liked the way it looked like the legendary Marshall Stack. If you plug in the model number, you should be able to find some pictures of this, it looks really cool. Just be aware that it only stands 6" high and not 6' high! (mistakes like this happen, at least if you design sets for Spinal Tap)

Price This little Mini Marshall goes for $40.00 bucks new, we picked up a used one for $25.00

Anything Else?

Yup, this gives you a quick and easy way to listen to yourself on headphones without plugging in your regular full size amplifier. It runs on a single nine volt battery, and it has a full sized headphone jack, so it's portability makes it easy to pick up and take anywhere, and thus practice anywhere. It also has an AC adapter plug input.

Summary It is what it is. If you were expecting that great Marshall tube sound that would bring down the house, get real! If you are looking for a fun novelty amplifier that you can clip on to practice with, this may be just the ticket. The sound is acceptable for having fun with, or for practicing, but not for anything serious. I give it a solid three stars.

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