Carlsbro GLX50 Combo

I won???t go into the specific features of this amp because they???ve already been listed by other reviewers. I bought this amp roughly two years ago now and it has been my trusty gig amp for roughly the same amount of time as well. My band mainly play funk, jazz and ska with a little rock too. On the whole it has served me well. I???d recommend it to guitarists looking for a respectable practice amp or something that???ll enable you to jam in a band easily. However, it does have its downsides.

This amp is by no means versatile - it???s suited me well because of my style of music but if you???re one of those people who swears by your overdrive channel then I suggest you turn around and run away. The overdrive channel on this amp is cringe worthy and I???ve never used it, even when messing around and experimenting. If I really needed distortion for something I think I???d probably buy a distortion pedal and run it through the clean channel - that???s how bad it is. It???s tame, it???s dull, it lacks the depth of the clean channel and it???s useless. You???ll also have major problems switching between channels in gigs (with the included foot pedal presumably) because it seems impossible to level the volume to match the cleans.

This amp also won???t necessarily get you through a medium sized gig unless it???s running into a PA. On many occasions I???ve had my volume on full and had to push my gain up to compensate - ruining my tone. Obviously it depends on your environment and other instruments, but ultimately 50 watt of solid state isn???t really enough for gig purposes.

Now for my tone issues - this amp lacks something and it???s hard to describe. The clean channel is decent but there???s no sparkle. It doesn???t seem bright enough, in fact again it???s actually just quite dull - and no amount of pedals can really change that, believe me. On the whole you don???t notice it too much, but when you compare this amp to a Marshall, Orange or a Fender - there???s a world of difference.

My last issue, is that the reverb is absolutely crap. Again there???s a distinct lack of depth and there???s just no character to it. Pedals can improve it slightly but once more, they can only do so much. So if reverb is hugely important to you, look elsewhere.

Seems negative right? Well yeah, but that's coming from a guitarist who's developed and matured a great deal over the last couple of years. These are issues I'd say only an experienced guitarists of at least three years would have problems with. Otherwise, this is a decent package and very affordable.

The clean channel is quite flat, but produces a nice warm tone. Push the volume over about 8 however and it starts to break up. The distortion is horrible - if you care about this, you should have stopped reading by now. I told you to run away.

In terms of styles, I'd say this amp suits jazz players the best. But you can get away quite easily with funk, ska and rock too. I use this amp with a Fender Squire Strat VII and occasionally a Vintage PRS1000.

My rating is largely based upon the terrible overdrive channel.

I???ve got nothing but positive comments to make here. This amp has travelled with me all over the UK, it's fallen out of a mini bus, fallen down some stairs (although our drummer was underneath it, cushioning the fall) and I've also split beer on it a few times. After all that, it still works perfectly. This thing is built British and built well.

It's a shame I've bought so many shoddy leads over the years.

Never contacted the company, but I hear they're good.

Overall this is a great amp for guitarists at a certain stage. It produces pleasing clean tones, decent jamming volumes and is a very solid piece of kit.

If someone stole this amp, I'd laugh at them as the hinge breaks off for the third time slitting their wrist. Then I'd retreive it and hurt them.

I wish it had better reverb and a brighter tone, but on the whole it's a great buy for a solid state amp. It's worth mentioning I bought this for ??250 - at the prices it's going for now I'd say it's an absolute steal regaurdless of its flaws.

I'm probably going to be selling this amp now, or leaving it at college for jamming purposes. I'm going to get a tube amp, probably a Fender or Orange which I'll have no problems achieving my ultimate tone with (my band has recording sessions coming up). But it'll be a sad day when I do.

this is a nice little 50w combo amp, with 2 channels clean and drive, the clean channel also has a crunch fuction, there is also a footswitch to switch between clean and drive, but it dosn't switch the cruch on and off, which a bit of a pain. it has the standard effects loop, headphones socket and a universal audio input for cd players and the like.
the only effect it has is reverb, which is quite nice if your looking for a studio type sound. its also plenty loud enough for band practises, drowns out the drummer nicely!

i use a johnson strat copy with single coils, but it has a very beefy tone on clean, but the lead channel sucks, alot, if you want to play anything above a light 70's style rock then you will need pedals, i use a behringer v-amp 2 which has a nice heavy metal distortion which really sounds cool though the beefy tone, and i use the pre-amp bypass on my clean channels to bring on the amps natual tone.
it only gets a 6 because of the bad lead channel

ive had this amp a good 4-5 months and never had a problem yet, and its built so strong i don't think it ever will

carlsbro are one of the oldest british amp manufature, so they know what they are doing, and i have never had to deal with them but i have heard they are very reliable

overall, if you have been playing a while with a little 10w amp and you ahve strated playing in a band and need more volume without changing tone, this is for you, if you want the classic marshall sounf, buy a marshall, cause this amp is nice but it lacks something but im not sure what

This amp is pretty standard for features but, this makes it perfect for a practice or second amp. It has two channels; clean (with crunch) and drive. The clean channel has controls for Gain, Bass, Middle and Treble. The drive channel has controls for Gain, Bass, Low Mid, High Mid, Treble and Level. There is also reverb which is for both channels combined. The channels can be switched either on the amp or via the supplied footswitch. There is also an effects loop and headphone jack. The only downsides on the features are that crunch cannot be selected on the footswitch and the only effects are the internal distortion and reverb.I have the ealier version of the amp which is not tube driven but, if you are buying a new one it should have tubes.

In my opinion this amp is great for a variety of styles. I normally use with a strat copy with a bridge humbucker and two single coils. I play a variety of music from RHCP to Oasis and the White Stripes to Good Charlotte. I find the amp great mainly for treble and the massive amount of distortion at low levels. It's also good for the reverb and crunch settings.

Not really much I can say as I don't gig it but I always use this amp and it's never failed.

From what I know Carlsbro are a small firm and are reliable.

I've been playing for 3 years and this is my second amp. I'd say this is a good amp in the price range compared to say Marshall or Fender who are better designed to whole the pocket gear