Welcome and HNAD! I've enjoyed my MP15/1w and carried it to a jam session in Jan where it held its own. I've rolled the preamp tubes a couple of times and changed the speaker---just because I could, not because it needed it.

• 22

  From what I've heard, the 15W Monoprice is a rebranded Laney, or an exact copy of it. From a thread on Strat Talk- it's a rebranded Laney Cub 12R, which Harley Benton also sold with their name on it.

It is, here are comparative pics.

• 23

I love my MP15 and have been using it for practice in the last few months. With the volume turned down (master volume) and the gain up around 12:00 to 1:00, I get some really nice blues type preamp distortion with the output low enough to not wake anyone.

The tone control circuitry is the same as in the old classic Marshalls, and if you run the bass all the way up, the mid at zero, and the treble at about 8, it does a pretty good imitation of the Fender mid-scoop sound. The "tone" control is between the phase inverter and the power tubes, so it acts on everything upstream, including the effects loop.

I think it's possible that there are a few folks who don't like it because it's made in China, or doesn't have a high-status name on it, or both.

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• 24

  Hello everyone.

Musician since 1972, this little amp is a winner, in every respect, yet gets no respect (miss you, Rodney Dangerfield, ahem!}.

I got one with all pure JJ tubes in Canada, and hot-dam, it is versatile, at a fraction of cost for my other 15 watt "name brand" performers.

Any thoughts or experiences are welcome. I am not a purist snob!

Open to your experiences, and possibly enhancements regarding this tube amp, all the best fellow old-timers (and respectfully new-timers), Ken in Canada.

In the past 7-8 years, I started looking for a good tube tone in a low wattage amp. I got (not in a chronological list here) a Fender Blues Jr, Blackheart Handsome Devil, Epiphone Valve Jr, Fender Bassbreaker 15w, Fender Super-Sonic 22, Marshall Origin 20, Ibanez TSA15H, Traynor YVC20WR, plus a heap of SS amps (Vox, Orange, Fender, Katana, etc).

I luckily found one of the first TV like with controls on top and it concluded my search. Yes you can say as long as you don't have them side by side, you can't really be sure, as your ears hear differently from one day to the next. I got it same day as the Super-Sonic, and A+B them for a month. The Super-Sonic lost the battle.

I have to confess though. Any of the amps listed above that are combos, wouldn't have been acquired if it wasn't for their external speaker option. I HATE a combo's boxy tone. I even added such a jack on the Katana, that doesn't have one. So, the Monoprice is always connected to mostly a 2X10" cab or a 2X12" if I need an even bigger tone.

• 26

DrBeGood, Awesome aging job on that amp! Most folks would never know it is a modern amp.

• 27

  From what I've heard, the 15W Monoprice is a rebranded Laney, or an exact copy of it. From a thread on Strat Talk- it's a rebranded Laney Cub 12R, which Harley Benton also sold with their name on it.

Hello DougMen: I agree, this at best approximates the Laney, and may have hybrid Vox AC151X architecture. It is apparent that the tube selection is common, but the physical layout is entirely Monoprice Stage Right in the Americas, and in Europe is branded as Harley Benton. Nonetheless, a surefire winner Thank you for your astute observation, and keep the positive vibes flowin'!

• 28

  Howdy and welcome to Squier talk Ken ! Them little devils are winners in their own right.

Thanks for the contemporary "G-string" chuckle!

• 29

Hello, and I agree: sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming to match, for example, a jazz guitar to a dedicated jazz amp, heavy metal guitar to a heavy metal amp, etc... There is no secret to having one great guitar matched with one great amp that satisfies YOU! We are versatile, imaginative, and happy with what we've got, make the most of it and enjoy! "Nutz" with snobby purists: I worked hard to afford my happiness

• 30

  Hello everyone.

Musician since 1972, this little amp is a winner, in every respect, yet gets no respect (miss you, Rodney Dangerfield, ahem!}.

I got one with all pure JJ tubes in Canada, and hot-dam, it is versatile, at a fraction of cost for my other 15 watt "name brand" performers.

Any thoughts or experiences are welcome. I am not a purist snob!

Open to your experiences, and possibly enhancements regarding this tube amp, all the best fellow old-timers (and respectfully new-timers), Ken in Canada.

Howdy and welcome to ST!

• 31

Fellow musicians unite (first round is on me!).

• 32

I wanted one and always out of Stock when I looked. I looked at the price of a Vox AC-15 and bought the AC-10, since I didn't have that much. Nice Amp for a Hack like me! I want a Black Horse Ale from Dawes Brewing Quebec that we got in the 70's. I don't even like German Beer because it used to be 12% ABV and now 6%. I had to drink 3.2 Beer in Boulder CO. Talk about Wiesel Pee!

• 33

Smiles regarding a cool-one ready; have you seen the price of super-exclusive guitar picks these days? Krazee, a good brew will efficiently equate sufficiently. Brew over a plectum? Lots of picks, never enough beer! Thanks for the point of ponderance (smirk and chuckles).

• 34

  I wanted one and always out of Stock when I looked. I looked at the price of a Vox AC-15 and bought the AC-10, since I didn't have that much. Nice Amp for a Hack like me!

I enjoy the diversity of both SS and tube amps, bit in all honesty, just HAVING a tube amp deserves an award!

• 35

I bought mine when they first came out, open box or something to that effect about $100 shipped and it was brand new. Replaced the speaker with a Cannabis Rex and changed out the tubes for Tung-Sol and vintage L-84 Russian tubes. It's really an amazing amp now. The reverb is not the greatest on these early models but I can live with that.

• 37

When you said "Dating Myself" I thought you were having a Tom Waits Night! "Yeah, I called myself up for a Date last night. Went out and came Home and took advantage of myself----"!

• 38

Here's a player I follow on YT and IG who gets great bluesy tones from her Laney Cub 12R I've been accused before, by some here, of liking some female players just because they're good looking. Well, Monica is an attractive woman, but she's more than just a pretty face, and a YT player. She's a successful gigging musician, who used to be based in Nashville, and is now in Austin, and is a graduate of the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. I would like and appreciate her playing no matter what she looks like.

• 39

I liked mine so well that I bought a second one. Only amp I have a duplicate of. Both were on sale at the times I purchased them.

• 40

I have one the first 15W versions with the Celestion Seventy 80 12"... Love it. (Laney 12R in different packaging and cheap rev tank) Only two digs on it. 1. The blue plastic Accu reverb tank is not the best by a long shot. A non-issue as I have all I need in my DigiTech 500.... 2. The Seventy 80 Celestion took a good while to limber up. Any new amp or speaker, I grab one of my five string basses and play walks all over the neck at low volume while watching tv..... No thump & pluck, etc.. Just laid back low volume walks just to excite the cone with a lot of freqs..... After a while, it really started to change and I was perfectly happy with it... I have all kinds of amps, both guitar and bass, but I played through that amp all the time..... Now I practice through my Spark but will still play the Mono every now and then.

$192 to my door at that time.... Killer amp at a killer price..... Wouldn't bother me to gig it and put an i5 in front of the speaker....

Love the 1W input on it too.... Can practice while watching tv or play along with streaming blues, rock, jazz.... Sounds great with my Lesters, Skrats, Teles, and others.... even bass.... Damned good amp...

I bought it out of curiosity several years ago after reading about others buying it on a diff forum and loving it.... I could have bought anything I wanted had I needed another gig amp.... Money was not an issue....and I had amps....

Is a 15 watt tube amp loud enough?

A good 15-watt amp with a reasonably efficient speaker would be loud enough to play funk rhythms with horns. A 12-inch speaker would be preferred, but a good 10″ speaker would probably be alright. If the horns were miked, however, you'd want to mic the guitar amp too.

Is 15W amp good for beginners?

Yes, 15-watts is a good choice. The first amps I played on (borrowed, not owned) were 15 W transistor amps with 10″ or 8″ speakers. Plenty loud enough for playing at home, and then for some low-level gigging. It's enough to also amplify an acoustic guitar where you don't want to be getting into distortion.

Is 15 watts enough for Bass?

Not really, no. It might be enough if you're playing with a couple of unamplified acoustic instruments. But 15 watts of bass isn't even loud enough to mic up or use as a monitor with DI in a typical rock setting - the other instruments will drown it out completely.

What is the difference between 15W and 30w amp?

To sum it up - IF both amps are measured by the same method and the same honesty, and both are tubes (or both solid state), and both speakers have the same sensitivity, the 30 watt amp will be 3 dB louder than the 15 watt amp.