Marshall Haze MHZ-15 Mini Stack

firefly08

Anyone know anything about this amp? I love Marshalls and I have a chance to buy one of these at a big discount, but I won't get to try it out first I'm in the states and I can't find anyone that has one locally but I found a display model being sold for $650 instead of the normal $1000, a few hundred miles away, with free shipping. There's a good few reviews on youtube and I think it sounds great.

It's apparently an "all-tube" design. I've seen some negative comments about the 40W combo version here on boards, but I think that version has lots of digital effects, and this model doesn't. 15W is loads for me too. At the end of the day, it's hard to tell from youtube...anyone have any comments or advice?

Squidgy Black

I've played through it before, and to be honest it might be a bit of a gamble to buy it without playing it, as it's not really the typical marshall sound if you know what I mean.

Your best bet is to just scour the internet and watch youtube demo's endlessly. And as you said, you're getting it at such a low price, that if you didn't like it, you could flip it and break even or only a small loss.

firefly08

Thanks...yeah I've done quite a bit of scouring and I have read some negative things, but mostly good reviews. I've watched a lot of videos, some of them comparing it to other amps and it sounds like what I want. It doesn't seem to be as bright and in-your-face as some of the competition but I can hear some nice subtle tones.

This guy compares it to a few other amps...some negative comments but I don't really agree with them myself, I thought the Marshall really came to life when they were cranked up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk09wmn20UQ

il gatto

Vox AC15. Supposed to be a great lirrle amp. Doesn't need to be cranked as much as an AC30 for the tone.
http://www.thomann.de/ie/vox_ac15_cc1.htm

An option in the same price range.

Also check out this
http://www.thomann.de/ie/orange_tiny_terror_combo.htm

And this. Great value apparently.
http://www.thomann.de/ie/laney_vc15110.htm


Just a few options in the same power/price range.

firefly08

Just tried a Vox AC15. I wasn't blown away...not enough gain for me without cranking it. They also had a Crate 18 which I tried, it had more gain but still not enough. I found a Mesa Boogie 5:50 Express locally for $950, but I have yet to try it out. It's a lot more than I wanted to spend, but it is much less than the new retail price and they are supposed to be very good.

firefly08

OK tried the Mesa. It was deadly. Very versatile. But I am still hoping the Marshall is better...

Squidgy Black

firefly08 wrote: »

OK tried the Mesa. It was deadly. Very versatile. But I am still hoping the Marshall is better...

I seriously doubt that the marshall will be anywhere near as good as the mesa, those 5:50's are amazing amps, extremely highly recommended by anyone who's come across them.

Ravelleman

Never really understood the mini-stack idea. If you want small, go for a low wattage combo not something that looks cool.

il gatto

firefly08 wrote: »

OK tried the Mesa. It was deadly. Very versatile. But I am still hoping the Marshall is better...

Marshall may be better at some things, but Mesa are regarded as being very versatile. Mesa get big kudos from gear nerds and tone freaks. I love Marshalls (have an 80s JCM800) but I would really like a Mesa too. If you can stretch to the Mesa, you won't go wrong with it.

Squidgy Black

Ravelleman wrote: »

Never really understood the mini-stack idea. If you want small, go for a low wattage combo not something that looks cool.

Aren't they effectively the same thing? I don't think it's down to the whole 'mini-stack' vibe any more, it's quite literally a portable low wattage head and a cab. I prefer the format as it's easier to transport and you can swap cabs for variations.

firefly08

Aren't they effectively the same thing? I don't think it's down to the whole 'mini-stack' vibe any more, it's quite literally a portable low wattage head and a cab. I prefer the format as it's easier to transport and you can swap cabs for variations.

Yep plus you have 2 speakers with a small low wattage amp, which you would not typically find with a combo. Sure they could make one, but I have not seen anything like that.

I actually think the mini stack is a much better match. I don't see the point of these 50-100W combos with a single 12" speaker. Put 50 Watts through that speaker and it's gonna sound crap. The Haze 15 has twice as much speaker but less than 1/3 of the power. Hopefully that will mean you can crank up the valves with less speaker break up.

Anyway, I just got back from Guitar Center where I tested the Marshall Haze 40W combo, some Orange yoke and a Mesa Lonestar.

The Marshall really was great - it has that unique tone I'm looking for...but sadly it doesn't have quite as much gain as I'd like. Just tiny bit more would have gone a long way. Plus it was on sale at $550.

The Mesa was fantastic as expected, buckets of gain and a beautiful "clean" (tube clean) channel. The clean channel was better than the Marshall hands down. But it was over $1100. Interestingly though, the Mesa 5:50 Express was better than the Lonestar imo. I think that used 5:50 I mentioned earlier for $950 is well worth the money. Both had better clean channels than the Marshall, and both had more gain on OD...but still, neither had that elusive Marshall tone. This is a hard one to decide. If the Marshall had 10% more gain, I would go for it. That said, maybe it has enough. Arrgh.

il gatto

firefly08 wrote: »

Aren't they effectively the same thing? I don't think it's down to the whole 'mini-stack' vibe any more, it's quite literally a portable low wattage head and a cab. I prefer the format as it's easier to transport and you can swap cabs for variations.

Yep plus you have 2 speakers with a small low wattage amp, which you would not typically find with a combo. Sure they could make one, but I have not seen anything like that.

I actually think the mini stack is a much better match. I don't see the point of these 50-100W combos with a single 12" speaker. Put 50 Watts through that speaker and it's gonna sound crap. The Haze 15 has twice as much speaker but less than 1/3 of the power. Hopefully that will mean you can crank up the valves with less speaker break up.

Anyway, I just got back from Guitar Center where I tested the Marshall Haze 40W combo, some Orange yoke and a Mesa Lonestar.

The Marshall really was great - it has that unique tone I'm looking for...but sadly it doesn't have quite as much gain as I'd like. Just tiny bit more would have gone a long way. Plus it was on sale at $550.

The Mesa was fantastic as expected, buckets of gain and a beautiful "clean" (tube clean) channel. The clean channel was better than the Marshall hands down. But it was over $1100. Interestingly though, the Mesa 5:50 Express was better than the Lonestar imo. I think that used 5:50 I mentioned earlier for $950 is well worth the money. Both had better clean channels than the Marshall, and both had more gain on OD...but still, neither had that elusive Marshall tone. This is a hard one to decide. If the Marshall had 10% more gain, I would go for it. That said, maybe it has enough. Arrgh.

My Marshall is a 50w valve head. It goes through a 4x12 cab. Valves seem to be able to drive more speaker than solid state. I know guys who wouldn't look at a combo under 100w but he seems to be based on prejudices from their crappy tranny amp days.
With regards the amp you want, don't let a small lack of gain put you off. You have several options. A simple preamp would be one solution. Another is to look at putting in hotter valves down the line if you still think it needs it. Even Clapton did this to his Marshall when he helped define their sound.
Another thing is what guitar did you try it out with? Some guitars pickups just don't have enough output to overdrive a valve properly.
Everyone wants the one shot solution of a perfect guitar with a perfect amp and nothing else, but realistically most of the legends had little tricks, modifications etc. so don't be afraid of a box/pedal/mod to get what you want.

firefly08

I used my own Gibson Les Paul Studio for all these tests.

Actually though from reading about the amps I've found that the 15 and 40 W versions of these amps have more differences besides the power. The 40W had this boost switch, without which the gain was nowhere near enough. But apparently the 15W head does not have that. Nevertheless, in videos I've seen it does appear to have as much gain.

I think I'm leaning towards the Marshall, especially if I can get that discounted one I mentioned. What you're saying about gain makes a lot of sense, I can always add an effect to it if I need to, although I might end up being happy enough with it.

il gatto

A preamp or new valves wouldn't really be an effect, as I see it. More a tweaking:) I use effects, we all do, but getting close to the sound without them is more satisfying.

firefly08

I have decided I want the Marshall. The Mesa is great at everything, except one thing - sounding like a Marshall. Only the Marshall can do that (though admittedly it can do nothing else). I know that smacks of fanboy talk but that's how I feel. Every time I hear it compared to another amp it sounds better to me

But I am considering just buying the Haze 15 head and sourcing a 4x12 cabinet separately, maybe used. The whole stack normally goes for $999, and the head for $500. That means $500 for 2 1x12 cabs...I think I could get more speaker for that. Anyone think a good 4x12 would make a difference when playing at fairly low volumes? Maybe closer to the "classic Marshall" sound?

il gatto

firefly08 wrote: »

I have decided I want the Marshall. The Mesa is great at everything, except one thing - sounding like a Marshall. Only the Marshall can do that (though admittedly it can do nothing else). I know that smacks of fanboy talk but that's how I feel. Every time I hear it compared to another amp it sounds better to me

But I am considering just buying the Haze 15 head and sourcing a 4x12 cabinet separately, maybe used. The whole stack normally goes for $999, and the head for $500. That means $500 for 2 1x12 cabs...I think I could get more speaker for that. Anyone think a good 4x12 would make a difference when playing at fairly low volumes? Maybe closer to the "classic Marshall" sound?

I dunno. 4x12 sounds like alot of speaker for 15w to me. I see Musician's Friend have the head plus top cab for $799 and a bottom (straight) cab for $249. Two speakers almost invariably sound better than one, but four 12" normally needs more power to push them properly. Having said that, I probably just think that as I've never seen anyone doing it. At low volumes, far from helping, I think too much speaker would hinder you. That Marshall sound comes from pushing both the valve and the speaker imo.
A Marshall 1936 2x12 would probably suit too, but at MF they're $630 (even though they have a used for $400 at the mo). The MHZ112 cabs are designed for that head and you have more versatility with regards to volume/space etc. if you only want to use one.

firefly08

Fair point...I think I will go with the 1x12 cabs at least for the time being.

firefly08

Well while I'm here fighting spam I might as well comment since I hate doing a search for something and then finding an unresolved thread...so my friends from the future:

Greetings from the distant past! Be assured I did in fact find my amp, but I decided to go for the Class 5 instead of the Haze. It sounded better. I also couldn't find a small cab that I liked the sound of so I got a Marshall 4x12 instead.