Marshall Head

Yes it's cheap, yes it says 'marshall' on it and no, it doesn't sound like a marshall. If you want the marshall tone pay the marshall price, else find alternatives that get you going. Don't go for the MG stack.

Some thoughts about going straight to the PA:

With an amp head like the one you're thinking about, you would still need a speaker cab to go with it. The amp experts will hopefully clarify, but the amp needs a 'load' to function properly - a speaker load because it has a power amp to drive speakers - and not having it would be like revving a car engine in neutral.

Kaboom.

Or...sizzle maybe?

That said, the amp also probably has a direct-out/line-out so that you can get the effects and distortion and tones apart from the main speaker sound. This would be for playing onstage. You'd have a 'send' to the PA to reproduce what your amp is doing. Way better than micing it in some cases.

On the other hand, it's possible, with stand-alone guitar preamps like the Behringer V Amp or the Line6 POD, to go direct to the PA without worrying about having no load or speakers for the power amp - because units like those don't have the power amp section. They're meant to go direct into boards and whatnot. It makes for a handy setup and pretty portable, but with one caveat: you'd still need to have a floor monitor or some other monitor nearby in order for you to hear what you're playing onstage. Onstage levels can be a little weird and unnatural at times so you need at least one speaker nearby from which you can reference what you're playing. It can be done with monitors, or building your own little 'stack' with the preamp and a power amp and a speaker cab, but then you're right back (pretty much), having a stand-alone guitar amp/cab.

Depends on the result you're going for. If you're in a small combo or duet or something and you're not playing at really high stage levels and with a drummer and all that, it would probably be fine to go with a preamp like the V-Amp or POD and plug it straight into the PA.

Like a small PA where you can hear the mains pretty well and not these concernt type systems where the mains are waaaaay over there kind of thing.

You know, coffeehouse kind of venue, or small parties.

Anything larger and you might want to think about a stand alone amp/cab or combo; most of the modern ones have a line-out so you can send a feed to the PA if you have to, so that makes your rig pretty scalable, but...what size venue/gathering, are you considering this for?

I play with a full band and we are going to be playing at the city civic center on the 23rd for about 200 people or so. I have been playing the accoustic guitar but have just started getting back to the electric and wondering whats the best way to get the best sound out of my electric.

I play with a full band and we are going to be playing at the city civic center on the 23rd for about 200 people or so. I have been playing the accoustic guitar but have just started getting back to the electric and wondering whats the best way to get the best sound out of my electric.

If you plan on using the amp miced or with a line out to the PA for larger gigs, I'd go with a 20 to 40 watt combo. Keep in mind 20 watts isn't that much quieter than 40 watts.

My personal "go to" stage amps are a Vox VR15 or a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. What suits you is really going to depend on the style of music you play.

Could I get a good amp for about 300ish? I really dont care if its name brand or not.

I beg to differ sleutelbos, the MG is a really decent head, expecially if used correctly. First off, the thing is great for metal. I went to a show the other week at the local American Legion. The best sounding guitarists all night were a pair of kids from this one band playing through the MG Stacks. Sounded better then the next band, who although had more technique, sounded much worse, and they were playing through a TSL and a DSL! Mashall Solid state is great for metal.

And if your into more classic rock, the clean channel has a gain control, and you can get some decent sounds on that channel as well.

As long as your not looking for fender clean, the MG sounds pretty decent. Don't look down upon a solid state budget amp just because its a solid state budget amp. Honestly, I almost sold my two amps for the MG stack, but ended up deciding against it because I'm going to college in three months, and 100 Watts pushed through 4 12" speakers might cause some problems.

Just my two cents.

Don't look down upon a solid state budget amp just because its a solid state budget amp.

I'm sitting here with a tube amp, a digital modeler, an analog modeler, two software renderers, a box of pedals, a floorboard multi-effect and some rackgear. I don't judge gear on it's type. For the price they ask I can simply find gear that has a better sound for every genre. Just my opinion. And if anyone don't agree then go right ahead and record that thing and I'll record it with a setup half the price, we'll see what sounds better. ;)
Could I get a good amp for about 300ish? I really dont care if its name brand or not.

Sure. What exactly are you looking for?

Could I get a good amp for about 300ish? I really dont care if its name brand or not.

Sure can!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Pro-Junior-Combo-Amp?sku=480511

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Crate-V16-Palomino-15W-Class-A-Tube-Combo-Amp?sku=487826

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-Cube-60-Guitar-Amp?sku=480197

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vox-Valvetronix-AD50VT-50W-Guitar-Combo-Amp-?sku=482615

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Blues-Junior-Combo-Amp?sku=480512

Sure. What exactly are you looking for?

Well like I said I am not new to playing music, im just new to playing music with an
electric :lol: and what I am looking for is something that is big enough to gig with.

That's a pretty good selection from Moonrider.

Probably anything from a 15 watt tube combo to a 50-60 watt solid-state combo would do the job on stage. I hear Wes Inman uses a 5 watt tube amp at his gigs.

The Musician's Friend references above could be used just as a guideline; you could go to a Guitar Center and get very similar deals/brands.

I hear Wes Inman uses a 5 watt tube amp at his gigs.
A 5W tube amp will work at small gigs - with the right speaker cab. A larger gig will need the amp to be put through the PA, but if you can do that a 1/2W amp will also work fine.

This is a cute little rig similar to Wes's:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Jr.-HalfStack?sku=481475

Has to be miked onstage though. The drummer might not be able to hear you over his kit however. In other words on a pretty big stage with a pretty full band, this one might not put out enough stage level for the other players to hear you. If the PA's going to be pretty modern and capable, they could run a mix of a small amp like this into the monitors for the drummer and the rest of the musicians, while keeping it low or out of the vocal mix for the singers.

What do "you all" (wanted to say yall, but was trying to hide the texas accent..) think about this one. It has pretty good reviews on it.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-VTone-GMX212-Stereo-Combo?sku=480731

Another question. With an amp like this do you run it through your PA or no. Right now we run 2 guitars and 2 mics throug our FOH speakers. Suggestions, comments, anything....
I want to know how to get the best sound as possible, if you know what I mean.

2x60 watts with 2 12" speakers - should be more than loud enough. There's lots of guys here with Behringer gear so they'll probably comment, but you could (and should in some cases) still run some signal directly out from your amp to the PA system - either with the amp's line-out, or simply by micing it. It gives the sound person more flexibility, more options.

In small venues the amp is most times pretty much all you hear, because there's most times no option of micing or di'ing it to the mains, but in bigger outdoor things, while a big loud amp could still be heard, it won't be heard evenly by the majority of the audience. The PA takes it and spreads it out better.

So it's always better to give the soundguy a piece of your signal to play around with. :)