SV20C Studio Vintage 1x10" 20/5-watt Tube Combo Amp Review

The Real Deal

If you've been hunting for That Marshall Sound, this is it. After owning a smaller Marshall tube amp and being disappointed, and owning a '64 handwired Princeton Reverb for some time now (which is an amazing amp that I'll be keeping forever, but it's just got a different character), this is The One for that particular sound. Crank it, and there it is. No need for pedals, though… read more it takes them very well. Also has plenty of headroom for clean tones. Cannot recommend highly enough. One note: even on 5 watt mode, it's loud. I use an attenuator to tame it for at home practice, and it's something you may want to consider. But if you're after that plexi sound without having to go out and pick up a 100 watt head, this is the one to get.

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Pure Marshall !!

Love this Amp it's pure plexi , this amp is Loud even in 5w i put a volume pedal in the effects loop and it tamed it , i owned a 100 w version in the day and this amp brings back some memories i put a 12" cab with the 10" and it sounds great so don't miss out buy one !!!

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Beautiful little BEAST

I live in a small house with limited space. I wanted a small combo amp that looked stylish enough that my wife wouldn't mind having on display in our living room 24/7. I was tired of having to lug equipment out of the "music storage corner of the bedroom" every time I wanted to play…and then having to return it. It was becoming a drag. I knew I wanted a tube amp. And it needed… read more to be quiet enough not to annoy my family. This one checked all the boxes…almost. Stylish? Oh yeah. This thing is gorgeous. The black, gold, and cream keep it looking timeless. Great tone? Absolutely. I've played a Marshall half-stack for over 20 years so I wanted to keep tone consistent. I LOVE having the multiple inputs. This gives me the ability to use a patch cable to "jump" both the High Treble and the Normal channels, blending both volumes to get to that sweet spot. I love that it has an effects loop so I can run my time-based effects after the preamp like I do with my big rig setup. This allows me to use my pedalboard and cables on each amp without having to reconfigure when I switch between the two. The Celestion speaker sounds great, and it has extra outputs to run extension cabs if needed. Small house volume? Not so much. This thing is a BEAST. It could replace my half-stack if I wanted/needed it to. Doesn't matter whether in the 20W setting or the 5W. The volume knobs are so sensitive I could barely go above inaudible before my family was complaining I was too loud. I couldn't even get to 2. I was contemplating returning it because it had become an unusable (but stylish!) conversation piece and nothing more. Then I stumbled upon a solution. I was able to add a Saturnworks volume knob/pedal into the effects loop chain and voilà…problem solved. In the effects loop, the SW volume pedal acts as a Master Volume. This allows me to crank the amp volumes up to get that natural breakup we're all looking for, and the sweep of the SW volume pedal is MUCH less sensitive…giving me the opportunity to dial in great tone at small house volume. And when the family is away I can let this pony run at full speed if I so desire! This little beauty is back to being the generational piece I envisioned it to be…one that I can pass down through the family for a looooong time. One last thing. I was a little uneasy about buying a high quality amp online, but Sweetwater made it easy. It was packaged well, delivered with signature requirement, and the free shipping/tracking are definitely a plus! Return policy is generous in case I didn't like it…so it was effectively "no risk". And my personal sales engineer Matthew Langston was patient with me throughout…listening to my concerns, and making me a great deal in the process! Very happy with this amp and with this sales experience!!

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Just what I wanted

It checks all of the boxes for a Marshall. I wouldn't say it's a bedroom amplifier (even at the 5w setting it's loud!) but it has a lot of potential for studio and gig use. It's far more portable than my other amp, but it can keep up with it when they're played simultaneously. I've been looking to blend Plexi and Twin tones for a while now, and this is absolutely the perfect amp… read more for that. Let's be honest. If you're here reading this, you know what you're looking for. This thing hits the spot on classic tone, and nothing more needs to be said. As usual, the Sweetwater staff took very good care of me in this purchase. Many thanks to Nick.

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Perfect Plexi for the studio

I wanted a grab n go sized amp that nails old school Marshall tone. This IS it! It's super loud for its size. Definitely gig worthy. The build quality is great. Solid , real wood cab, and the PCB is nice, thick double sided board. The amp sounds absolutely killer, and there isn't a bad sound I've heard no matter the setting. I wanted to add a Marshall Plexi that has an effects… read more loop, and can give me cranked tones for recording that I can stack gain on top of, and still use delay and other effects in the loop. This amp does that perfectly. The best thing about the experience so far is Sweetwater's customer service. I have literally never experienced the level of service that this amp purchase featured. Just absolutely the best. Hands down. Order this thing with confidence! You won't regret it.

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