Gear Curiosities: Marshall MS-2 - A Great Pedal Disguised as a Pitiful Amp

[@PlagueScytheStudios]

Sorry about the audio sync issues in this one everyone, I must have made an error right before exporting. I also didn't mute the video track on the last reamped playthrough, so you get to hear Gamers Nexus in the background LOL!

[@RÅNÇIÐ]

I bought this thing about 10 years ago because I saw Jack Black use it in School Of Rock

[@ayoutubeaccount864]

And you win

[@MoJo42047]

I did the same thing

[@TheIsahn]

Me too

[@BM-di4cu]

It's a $47 micro amp that fits on your belt. Were you expecting something that *wasn't* cheap?

[@jiri951]

If it at least had some cabinet emulation, it sounds like distortion pedal plugged straigh into a mixing board, no low end, just fizz. Blackstar makes similar style micro combo which doesn't sound that bad at all for example.

[@vexguine]

@@jiri951 no cab emulation will solve this. You are expecting as 12" speaker sound from a 1" speaker. "No low end"... Really? it's a toy!!!! The purpose of this is to study with batteries and display on the shelf. And for that its amazing.

[@toemasmeems]

@@vexguine right? This is supposed to be a souvenir the fact that it makes a sound and plays it’s just plain awesome. Lmao I feel like this went over peoples heads. I worry about people that think it was supposed something worth bitchin about

[@cheapskateaquatics7103]

Just get a Danelectro honeytone n-10. Much better bang for your buck at $20.

[@harls7317]

@@cheapskateaquatics7103 nope try again

[@CyberneticArgumentCreator]

The mod where you make it a power amp and run it into a larger cab is actually really solid. It is usable and unique-sounding.

[@LeonTodd]

Great job man! Love the boosted SD-1 Mastodon tone the most.

[@SuperZiggyCraft]

Sadly the Marshall MS-2 sounds better than my 10 watt practice amp.

[@nightraven5760]

Same! Acoustic solutions amp for life haha

[@rodrigobelinchon2982]

let me guess, Boss or Blackstar

[@JakeTerch]

Oh man, my first foray into guitar amplification at eleven years old! I remember clipping this little thing to my belt like Jack Black did on School of Rock. Been a Marshall fan ever since and this little puppy proudly sits atop my JCM 800.

[@savagecowboy4960]

Audio syncing is off. And it’s back.

[@TheDogPa]

Editing 101...watch the lips...LOL!

[@Sweeny_de]

I felt like im having a stroke

[@jordanfrancis1074]

I work at a Goodwill and recently I bought 2 little amps that were donated in the same week: a Lyon LA5 practice amp and a Fender Mini Deluxe. I bought them both out of curiosity because I've never played through something small like that. They sounded a lot better than I thought they would and are really fun. The Lyon actually has a nice distorted character when the gain and tone are cranked. My neighbor was fascinated by the Mini Deluxe and considered it a steal for $8.

[@stavrost6559]

The problem with these amps is that the speaker they use is not designed for guitar tone, so, it will sound bad. BUT if you pass your signal through a cab sim (aka an eq) before the amps input, or if you use an external cabinet, you will have a sound you will not hate... I ve done it, it works

[@gvtshorts2024]

If you disconnect the internal speaker and connect the wires to an output jack and plug it into a 1x12 cab it sounds pretty good as a bedroom amp. Put the amps knobs on max and use the volume knob on the guitar to go from clean to distortion and use the tone knob on your guitar to control the treble. I did it with the MS-4 and MS-2 and from memory I think the ms-4 had a bit more gain

[@Adamnme01]

This amp is all over the later period stuff from Blur. The demented genius Graham Coxon is a big fan of it, off the top of my head it's the intro guitar sound to Tender and it's providing the bass fuzz on song 2.

[@Moka8]

Man, I must have had this same thing since I was about 12 years old. Haha. These are great to stick on a workbench when you're working on a guitar and just need to make sure something is passing signal. It's also pretty cool to mic up for recording to get that kind of "broken radio" sort of tone.

[@danielluna1818]

Have an original version , and it rocks ! The newer one is very close to my first one in sound and quality , and have had that for 25 years 🤘 Full blast it’s versatile depending on which guitar is plugged into it . Used a y cable to play thru both , and it was fun ! Not a full rig ,but good nostalgic item from my youth

[@M81_WOODLAND]

Huh, I've done the IR thing with this little guy before, but NEVER would've thought to have used it as a pedal in front of a tube amp. Gonna try this with my Bassman soon. 👍👍

[@bucketofham8470]

I did that with a vypyr and its amazing

[@yadakc]

The standard of battery powered amplifiers, and actually sounds good. It's been around for close to 50 years, THE PIGNOSE!!!!

[@thecalling667]

YES! Can't believe no-one ever talks about those! I got one from my Grandpa over ten years ago (and he had it for even longer) - they're built like tanks for REAL, such a sick design where it like opens up like a chest and shit to put the battery in! Love 'em! Cheers, haha!

[@yadakc]

@@thecalling667 my reply got posted above my original post, so scroll up if you want to read it, but yeah, great little design!

[@stevenmgyori3826]

Well done Ryan! Wishing you and your Family a Very Merry Christmas! Thanks for all you've shared this year! Peace, Love and Joy To All! Merry Christmas Brothers!

[@DavidSL2H]

I bought the first version when it was released, that is during the early nineties, by then it was a super cool thing and had not so much competition.

[@bradwood6807]

This was the most thorough and intelligent way possible to evaluate the “amp.” Great video that addressed a lot of craft-boredom what-if scenarios we all considered at one time. I hit Subscribe. Looking forward to other vids.

[@Qban220]

Dimebag was worming up back stage with this for crying out loud! And it sounded ok ;D

[@mikedixon8830]

TRVE

[@AndreiGrozea]

holy crap it sounds super good with impulses wtf

[@AndreiGrozea]

@@KahruSuomiPerkele oh I love Lasse, will check that

[@StuntcatTV]

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you, Metal Man. :D

[@jasonkeeney2410]

fyi, one of these was used for the Neversoft intro song on the first Tony Hawks Pro Skater

[@danielluna1818]

It’s great as a stomp box ! Cable from headphone jack but half way to input and you’ve got a high gain monster

[@rommelrivera1186]

I just ordered my second Marshall MS-2 in red! Are they toys? Yes. Do they sound great? No. Do they get you chix? Yes!!! But on the serious side, I find them to be really good to practice technique where you're not distracted by how delicious your $2,000 amp and effects pedals sound. If you can sound good on this little thing, you can sound good on ANYTHING! Just sayyin'.

[@christopherwoods6]

Couldn't help but bang my head when you played the Metal Malitia riff!

[@icefenix3187]

I got mine in 1993 when I was 20. I upgraded to a Crate GX-15 in 1999. At the time I didn't even have an amp, but a PA tape thing they had in schools years before, that I borrowed from my brother.

[@12ealDealOfficial]

Got my buddy the evh version of this one year. Wonder if the headphone out functions the same way?

[@idanshahar]

HAHA the minute you said the headphones out was a clean signal with any filtering I knew where this was headed. Suprisingly good circuit!

[@stiiimes]

Man I LOVE mine. Using it with headphones is great. I pass up my tube heads & cabs and use mine to write on a daily basis.

[@stuartmenziesfarrant]

Marshall should have spotted that the MS2 makes a better pedal than micro amp! I bought it when it first came out and came to that conclusion after a few hours playing.

[@yadakc]

Yeah, they were really popular in the 70s, but I never hear anyone talk about them. I still see one in a shop occasionally, so they're still making them! Peace

[@TheIsahn]

I was testing mine with the headfone output, it has a pretty awesome preamp circuit. They could make a pedal it would be great

[@MARK5-FX]

I had the MS-2 back in the 90's and took it apart and made a pedal out of it. I think i used a recipe file box for an enclosure.

[@DocenternaTube]

It actually sounds quite good.

[@fransredoja7138]

Heard metal militia, knew I was in the right place :D

[@sski]

I had one of the early production ones back in the mid 80s . I used it with a MXR Distortion + when I would busk in Center City Philadelphia. Worked great.

[@vadimtaranov3041]

This little thing sounds insanely good.

[@sahiljagtiani]

There seem to be some audio sync issues with the video. But overall it was a fun video. Cannot believe how good it sounded through the Wall Of Sound.

[@scottdunn2178]

Wait... was that the F # 7Sus4 from the opening of Rush Hemispheres I heard?

[@SermonFapple]

I plan on getting one of these to gut out and make a suitcase amp, they are 8 ohm...so I can use most 8 ohm low wat speakers. So I will make a video with my final product using a 15w 10 inch fender frontman speaker.

[@Beermaker2000]

Another great video. Great channel keep 'em coming!

[@pablitn]

I put a 10k potentiometer right before the speaker as a "master volume" and it changed everything. Now I can "crank it up" at low volumes. Next step is to connect it to a bigger speaker.

[@toemasmeems]

I would totally buy this as a decoration next to a Funk O pop or whatever it’s called

[@bilalwehbe891]

Something really weird happening in the sound clip around 19:20, probably it is picking up some radio frequencies or something!

[@kennhern]

Yeah it sounded really weird, I thought someone turned on the tv or something

[@randomguy5907]

If I remove the batteries from my emg pickups and turn the gain up I can hear the radio in a similar manner

[@judehastings2643]

Random GUY I heard the radio by touching the lead on the nut of the input jack on the guitar and had the amp on a decent amount of gain, but only when I had the guitar pointed in a certain position... weird

[@randomguy5907]

@@judehastings2643 yeah if I remember correctly it happens when you have a dirty AC unit(so you get a little bit more noise when using hi gain) but nothing that a noise gate can't solve

[@SlyHikari03]

Sounded like he forgot to mute an his video's audio track.

[@The_Bass_Stunters]

This video is a complete and utter surprise of dedication to this product! Lol

[@clicheguevara9917]

my go to amp for territorial pissings

[@heavymetalgoatsacrificer5631]

How so?

[@chandler8060]

I can totally see why. Underrated song

[@clicheguevara9917]

@@heavymetalgoatsacrificer5631 because it sounds perfect when dimed and paired with a high output pickup

[@cornelius5595]

I was digging that tone when you put the SD-1 and played some Mastodon. I would hope those guys see this video and make that rig and secretly tour with it. Everyone is praising their tone and they’re sitting in the tour bus laughing maniacally at their Illuminati tone box lol

[@toemasmeems]

Lol watch Marshall find this vid and start charging double now

[@jordanmayer5932]

Nice man, sounded good to me as nice little pedal.

[@MichaelStoneham]

The Marshall ms4 (the 2 speaker option) is a similar but much better amp. It has volume tone and gain. And no OD

[@peteytwofinger]

its good for testing stuff . i paid 3 for mine . it had a broken wire . curious to try it line out into a class d amp board feeding a 12. also there is a speaker out mod i will try but ... that would be more of a novelty . ultimately i am working towards a FET version of a jcm800 feeding a class d board . runs off lithium ion cells with a spring reverb tank / driver circuit . . . i know i am weird . the idea is to pair it with my existing wet rig which has a ton of gain and all kind sof custom patvches with all the bells and whistles so the center channel will be more clean ish , with just a il spring verb as i love that sound . this marshall mini doesnt really fit in with this plan but i will try it ... i think where this "amp" stands out as an upgrade from my 9 volt 1.5 inch mini amp from first act which is apocket amp i use for testing stuff like pedal circuits when i finish diy them . to be honest i thought it sounded better than i had expected as anything with an alarm clock speaker is pretty awful . which this is but ... maybe a step up ? lol . i will be trying it line out though so thanks for the video pal .

[@profile1251]

Nice job on the Mastodon riff

[@litos_mendes]

been a long sub and i love every time you play mastodon … waiting for the mastodon guitar tone

[@RubyRoks]

I would love to see a JHS mod MS2 pedal or something like that. The character of the distortion sounds mostly okay to me. It just needs an 18V mod and a proper "pedal" EQ

[@senspartech3533]

Ive been wanting to get one of these puppies for a while. I do like the idea of modding it to have a 1/4" out. It is exceedingly easy, and would be a fun project for little money. I do have one of the small Blackstar amps that Ive been wanting to do the same mod, but always have more "important" things to do.

[@EpicStuffMan1000]

do it while watching youtube videos like this

[@kingpossie]

Nice vid. Lasse Lammert on KZbin (2013) to put it thru a Mesa cab. Sounded awesome.

[@brandonsmothers8907]

it is what it is man

[@norriszappa25]

I had one of these almost 20 years ago lol. It had some awesome stoner tone when the battery was dying but i agree there's much better options out there now

[@mikestckl6939]

i allways kinda liked that thing haha , but i allways saw it more as a toy and as far as i remember it wasnt that expensive back when i bought it , and for just playing a bit anywhere i wanted it served its purpos everytime :) still have it and now that i saw this i gonna mess around with it as a pedal too haha

[@Breaker197]

For 1 watt, the randall RG13 absolutely craps all over this thing. That being said, I've been meaning to pick up a pocket amp like this.

[@briandipierro8865]

I got my little Marshall mini amp from the flea market for $10 and I think it was worth it

[@zosojstro]

Maybe they’ll make a separate head!! 😂

[@mikeme4456]

Yeah! Bought mine in '91... used it a lot. And of course, connected it to an real speaker (Ragin' Cajun). And get awesome sounds! Love this HomeAmp mod. Just added a switch to disconnect the internal speaker, and that's it. You can hear it right here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGOoZ6iifqygr6M

[@MFKitten]

I really wanna see this thing wired to power a full cab.

[@senspartech3533]

You can find vids of that out there, it seems to work out reasonably well. For me, its one of those projects that is super low on the priority list, but I do want to get around to it eventually. Id do it to my blackstar fly first, just because I actually have one

[@danielvought1802]

Did you use a trs to ts cable when you used it as a pedal from the headphone out?

[@mcolby7214]

Man I love that outro song

[@greatreset3]

These little things would be easy to turn into a talk-box pedal. 🎶🎸

[@JoshNotJohn0]

"should not be spending our money on this" *laughs in free ms-2 that i got because my guitar teacher is cool*

[@dethsyndrome]

I'd gig with that setup! lol.

[@alexanderlumberjack]

Very interesting

[@CurtisAlfeld]

I have an MS-4. Not really all that bad. Two speakers powered by a nine volt battery. About what you'd expect.

[@sassulusmagnus]

Why would anyone expect a battery powered 1980's design novelty micro amp with a tiny speaker to sound convincingly like a real amp? It's quite an old circuit, and there's no modelling involved. The sounds you can get with this little device aren't meat and potatoes sounds. But the MS-2, perhaps surprisingly, actually pops up on albums here and there when an artist or producer is looking for something oddball. It's the amp equivalent of using an old telephone handset as a microphone. There are no bad sounds. Just sounds you personally don't like or which don't suit the purpose you have in mind.

[@0421072]

It's a belt buckle!

[@jamesha175]

output it into a 6 or 8" computer subwoofer speaker - it keeps up with the acoustic guitar while camping

[@speedmetalftw]

Dope shirt!

[@markk9184]

Well look at that! Nice!

[@MFKitten]

Some clips didn't stick to their audio when you moved them around in editing dude. Not only does the audio sync slip for a little while, but during one of the into-an-amp demos the camera audio from a different clip plays I think.

[@JMK-kb1yq]

I'm considering getting a 5150 pedal and running it through an Orange Pedal Baby as a compact rig. Your thoughts?

[@mcolby7214]

I'm thinking about getting a power amp like the pedal baby or power stage for my airis effects preamp. I think the cabinet's gonna be the biggest make or break for any of these gear setups

[@JMK-kb1yq]

@@mcolby7214 I made a custom 212 with an Eminence Manowar and Eminence Governor

[@mcolby7214]

@@JMK-kb1yq I'm gonna try the eminence Texas heat and one of the redcoat speakers (governor or cv-75) in a mesa recto 2x12 copy. Any thoughts on the governor?

[@JMK-kb1yq]

@@mcolby7214 the Governor is great; as is the cv75- which is somewhat like a Vintage 30

[@mcolby7214]

@@JMK-kb1yq thanks! Will keep in mind

[@joemarshlljmp]

Are you forgetting the price of that little thing!? I have two so I do love these things but 59.99?

[@robertloktongbam5612]

Say you are a teacher and carries guitar . And you want a very comfortable amp.. this is the right one and who cares if it sounds bad you can still practice. After all practice will only make guitar sound better.. that is the only thing that will take you further not amps..

[@Highrollinhunter]

I would change out the speaker it's the same speaker that was in most of my toy cars I would put an better speaker in it to make it sound better hey it's a cute amp I would use for an action figure especially the Metallica action figures that are super rare now

[@Mel-gn3eo]

What would u mind to replace with? Im also want to change the speaker but most alnico speaker dont have 1 watt

[@Highrollinhunter]

@@Mel-gn3eo an ipod dock speaker

[@IntheDAW]

Just buy a xtomp or ampero lol. Honesty i am impressed on this video. Totally subscribed

[@JulioJustiniano]

Did you play NRSV Heavy Metals for a bit at the beginning?

[@emax5920]

JOYO MA-10E + fortin 33 is amazing :)

[@sneifert1968]

Ola says “It chugs”

[@maxkov03]

what's the song @ 8:15

[@ajackson5955]

maxkov03 “Cheap Sunglasses” by ZZ Top.

[@matthias7455]

Didn't Dave Grohl use one of these as a preamp at some point?

[@IamtheFerryMan]

I'm loving the Boss Katana Mini. My firdt amp was a 1 watt Epiphone mini and it sounded like trash.

[@jeromea1659]

🤘😎🤘 love this type of show. POS Gear into new lifestyles..or The Macgyver's Tone Show. I chose the Orange 3w.(9-12v) Micro Crush instead. A way better 'amp'

[@Anshul1614]

I just got one but the od channel does not work.

[@spencer66661]

Better than the MG series

[@thepessimist9043]

dude, your audio is off the video on 3:30

[@azzazelo]

Yeah but it's the cab baltic pine?

[@alm000]

I had a generic one that came in a really crappy guitar package from Sears back in the day. I found if you dimed everything, poked holes randomly in the speaker and put it in a cardboard box it would sound pretty cool, LOL Leave it to you to make that little sucker shine in it's full potential. :) Happy Holidays Ryan, :)

[@floreavictormihaigeorge6962]

plug it into the poweramp of that tube amp!!!

[@Lucho-ud4ku]

the magic in that box is crank to 10 the volume knob in od mod an get the speaker distorted

[@camo3384]

Metal MILITIA

[@alpacarama21]

I mean, it's a toy obviously. A desk ornament. Nobody is buying this expecting it to be a serious amp.

[@qwertpoiuy430]

alpacarama i mean at that size the fact that is functional is pretty cool

[@ZemanTheMighty]

See this can sound one of a kind if you’re really willing to torture it. I usually put a noisy synth into an overdrive pedal and into the amp. Sounds interesting

[@harls7317]

Alpaca

[@jasong.9649]

Didn't Slash use one of these on the recording of One In A Million?

[@AhmadIlyas1994]

discount Guthrie Govan

[@MetalLeo30]

Mastodon tho