Alesis Spitfire 15

This amp is a 15 watt SS with 8 inch speaker. Has about 80 digital preset sounds that are customizable. I bought this off musicians friend on clearance, said it listed at $199, paid $69 + shipping. It also had a rebate for a channel switching pedal (which retails at $99). It does have a headphone jack, and an aux input. The channel display could be better. I use this amp in my bedroom because my mesa boogie dual rect is too big for just casaul playing before bed. I have only had it just over a week so I haven't had a chance to fully use it.

I use a Schecter blackjack 006 and an Ibanez RG450. Mostly rock but play a lot of other styles. This amp has a lot of effects on it. They are cool but what I find I don't like is that unless you know what everychannel it is it can be difficult to find a good distortion and clean side by side. If you want to switch back and forth it can be difficult. (I don't have the pedal yet so that may help). On some of the simulator sounds if you pluck too hard the amp will give out. I thought it was my cord but figured out I was playing too hard for the effect. It gets loud. I am planning on testing it with my drummer to see how it will do. I have mixed opinions on if it will be worthwhile. I haven't found a brutal distortion on it yet but still playing. Overall it has some cool sounds on it that are fun to play. Because of the occasional sound break up I only give it a 7

Haven't used it long. It's not a gigging type amp.

haven't used

I have been playing ten years. I haven't owned many small amps. If it were lost or stolen I would be pissed but I would probably buy a different one strictly for variety. I love that I got a good deal on it and is perfect for my bedroom. I just have it sitting at the end of my bed. I dis-like that it can break up if strummed too hard and difficult to find side by side dirty and clean channels. I compared many amps before I bought this one but just randomly bought this one online for price. I tried to stay under $120 (which I did). I will give it an overall of 7.5. No way would I pay the $199 retail.

I play blues slide guitar, so this thing has way more features than I'd ever use.

I got this amp since I used the smaller Spitfire 15 to record my last CD. It really came out great. I usually use vintage tube amps, but the little Spitfire emulated that sound so well, plus it had limiting, tremelo and other stuff I always use, so I gave it a try with excellent results. I got the Spitfire 60 to use on live dates. It is soooooooooo loud!

It's solid state, which seem to be more roadworthy. It seems to be built well, too.

I got a reply to an email within 48 hours. Good enought for me.

I'm a tube amp junkie. But, honestly, I think this amp will work out better in the long run. Plus I dont' have to fuss with tubes. It sounded so good at full volume, I used it to record my latest CD. I'm really amazed at how much it sounds like the vintage tube amps I usually record with. I cranked it to 10 and miced the grill with both a 421 and a 57 and miced the back with a 414. Check out my site to hear the result www.cdbaby.com/alexgomez

This is a new series of amps in 2003 by Alesis. They have typically only made effects processors, keyboards, mixing equipment, etc.
This amp has a built in effects processor, which is pretty sweet, but... too complicated for a beginner to try to get their hands around. There's no seperate channels or gain, or EQ. Everything is built in as adjustments to the effects. This is less like an amp and more like an effects processor pushing through a speaker. But don't get me wrong... this one is adequately loud for home practice and the sound possibilites are endless and all adjustable. It does have a headphone jack, built-in tuner, stereo output (you can hook up another amp and the effects will play through in stereo.), supports using pedals and outside speaker output, Solid state amp. This amp could provide almost any sound you could imagine if you put in the time to figure out how to use the controls.

I play an Epiphone Extreme Beast, mostly metal and some bluesy classic rock stuff. Original pickups. The sound was really good with this thing. I didn't expect it to be considering the fact that it was Solid State and small. It actually has incredible controls and you can really get a deep sound. It was noisy on some settings, but it could be adjusted out with other settings. no buzzing or hissing. It had a strange thing about it though... When starting it up in temperatures under 70 to 75 degrees it would only sound like loud static for about 15 minutes... As though the effects processor had to warm up.
Once it was up and running, you could create any sound you wanted and it held that sound well all the way up the volume dial.

I didn't like the fact that it took so long to warm up sometimes.
Then one day out of the blue (only had it for three weeks), the sound stopped coming out of it. In the middle of playing at a low volume. I checked the fuse... It was good... I turned it off and back on... nothing but an E3 on the LED menu... And it never made a sound again in my house. I sent it back to the place I bought it and replaced it with a Roland Cube 15.

Comes with standard 1-year warranty.

I did send an e-mail to the company and received a response within 36 hours. (A little long to wait for e-mail support).
They suggested that I turn on the amp the same time as I push in on one switch and then another... Then push the first switch one more time after it starts up... I guess this was a reset thing for the effects processor. (None of that info was in the troubleshooting area of the manual.) By the time I received the info, the amp was on its way back to the distributor.

I'm a beginner, just been playing about a year, and I don't have much other gear right now.
I wouldn't buy another one of these unless I found out somehow that the one I got was a fluke. There's not much research available on these.
I loved all the options and effects, but if you aren't a computer lover or technical person, this amp will drive you nuts. I hated that I had this obnoxious static for a few minutes every time I turned it on. I compared it to some other beginner amps (Marshall, Roland Cube, Fender, and Vox) I chose this one because the Roland Cube was on back order and I didn't want to wait. BTW, the Vox has a beautiful sound, just not quite as loud, and a bit too much $$.
I wish it had just a basic amp function, instead of all the complicated effects stuff. Almost maybe set up as a seperate channel or something.