Epiphone Galaxie 10 Combo

Single channel, class A, single ended basic amp. 10watts, a pretty basic guitar tube amp. Made in China, fairly good craftsmanship but not the best of quality components internally. Seems like it would make a nice practice amp for my apartment. Master volume in addition to vol, treble, middle, and bass.

First impression was that this was a really cheap amp with a cheam amp sound. Absolutely lacking in bass, brassy mid range and screechy highs. Since I thought of this as a project amp, changed tubes and improved the sound right away. The stockers are Sovtec 6L6GC and a 12AX7, not very good quality. Remember, the manufacturers have a price-point to sell these amps at to make any sort of profit. They're not going to put top-shelf components in if they don't have to. Tried several 6L6GC tubes finally settling for JJ's. As for 12AX7, also JJ's.Much better sounding.
Threw away the Cheap Import 10" Celestion and replaced it with a Eminence Ragin'Cajun'. Much better drive, tonal range, and articulation.
Finally, replaced the puny output transformer with a Hammond 125DSE.

Still a 10watt amp but now it really roars. Sounds like a much bigger amp than it is. Tube and speaker swap were big steps but output transformer was a huge leap. Really love this little amp now. Easily overdriven, very warm sounding, creamy sustain, nice tonal range, and much, much, louder than in stock form. There are many other mods but these were simplest.

Just finished the mods, too soon to tell.

N.A.

A very basic tube amp with a fair amount of potential. Everyone seems to be modifying the Epiphone Valve Jr but these Galaxie10's are also a nice platform to start with. The only drawback with mods is a limited amount of chassis space to work with. Adding the Hammond output transformer required relocating the power transformer.

This started as a weekend project and I'm really happy with the results. The sound is now boutique tube-amp quality, it's very sturdy in construction, and it's perfect for small gigs or a home studio.

When I purchased an amp at a music store's clearance sale, the owner gave me the Galaxie10 to get rid of it. The goal was to take this amp to the next level or two without breaking the bank.

Nothing has been said that I can say; you do have a gain and a volume switch; I can say the gain dose act like a second or lets say a preamp volume switch. you have one 10 inch speaker and a preamp and power tube.

I play in a band using a big vox combo; I've got a standard 80's american tele as my main "axe", an 80's Ibanez Roadstar II; and a 90's Korean Epiphone coronet.
This is not a death metal amp. I am assuming that people, like me, buy this for a quieter smooth tube tone, a bluesy to pushed crunch, to record with a faster break up than a bigger louder amp, at a fraction of the price. There is a really nice vintage sound with the volume on ten, and the gain about 5-7. I am anxious to look into replacing the speaker and or the tubes. I can only hope that that may make it go from very good sounding to exceptional.

No history with this yet. Its used at a bargain, perhaps I will need to service it a bit.

I've been playing over 20 years, most of that time in gigging and recording bands. I can't really imgine using this alone live; I see it as a recording amp, practice amp. Perhaps my mind will change with mods. I also will try it with an eq pedal.

Right now, after a couple of hours or so, I think its just about on par with one of those valve jr or blackheart type set ups. With mods and work, it may far surpass them.

It has everything it needs. The only thing i missed, was a external speaker connect, but it is easily to mod.

The original Sound is too flashy or screaming. tehe tone stack don??t work very well. Too much treble, to less bass, no mids. But if you use a equalizer before it and crank the basses and mids the way up, you will be surprised how thick the tone will get. So I say in original it is 5 but with a eq it has everything for good bluestone. The overdrive is ok and is to optimize with other tubes. Try out.

Like others, no problems.

To old to know something about.

For the low price, you will get a good bluesamp, if you will kixk it in the ass with an equalizer or booster. Than it will work fine.

Update to review of 9/05. I still have the amp. Now has an Eminence Governor Speaker and a GT KT-66 power tube. You can squeeze it in there, and trust me when I tell you no 6L6 can compare. Makes the amp a monster, and looks like a 25 watt light bulb in the back of the amp!

I use a delay/reverb pedal, and a Keely modded Ibanez TS-5 in front. The amp has played many a gig. Really great for everything but super clean country, and only because if you get it loud enough to twang with a band, it starts to break up too much.

never a problem.

With a 12" speaker, the right tubes and pedals, this amp can get you to a lot of places. For the $ it's hard to beat it.

This amp has already been reviewed ~83 times. For the tech types out there you can download the schematic at my site (blueguitar dot org).

Replacing the tubes helps a lot with the sound but I thought it was still too bright. Looking at the schematic there is an extra coupling cap (C6 0.1uF) between the second tube stage and the tone stack. Although the extra cap is sometimes used to restrict bass response on high gain amps I didn't think it was appropriate in this design so I removed it and replaced it with a jumper. I replaced the 3 remaining coupling/bass/mid caps with 0.022uF 600vdc polyester Orange Drop caps (C2, C8 and C9, respectively). You could alternately use a high quality 630vdc polyester cap, preferrably from one of the suppliers who specialize in tube guitar amps. For the 470pF 1kv ceramic treble cap I put in a 390pF 500v mica cap (my own preferance).

The other mod I did was substitute a 1M resistor for the 100k series resistor R5 (between the 1st stage coupling cap and the 1M audio taper Gain control. This cuts the brightness a little bit and also keeps the amp from going too crazy if you set the Gain any higher than 8 (out of 10). With 1M series resistor it goes crazy only if you set to the max.

I have some amps which will become unstable if you set both the gain and the volume to the max; turning down either control will stabilize the amp. With this amp, setting the Gain control to the max will cause instability at *any* setting of the Volume control- not the best design. LOL

With these mods and the stock tubes, this amp sounds pretty nice- but replacing the tubes as well makes it sound really great. I happened to have a single Tung Sol 6L6WGB from 1956 and I finally have an amp to put it in.

This amp is pretty slick- most of the single-ended amps like this one use the lower powered 6V6 tube, which will put out about 5 watts. A single-ended 6L6 will put out about 10 watts, with enough gain to be able to use a regular 3 control tone stack to shape the tone. With the tone stack, this amp might be good for harmonica.

I gave a rating of 6 for the sound quality- this is for the stock amp. With the mods outlined here and different tubes, I'd give it 8 or 9 for getting a great blues tone. I would have liked to do more mods to it, but with the stock cabinet design there are not good places to add extra pots or switches (I've been thinking about taking out the pilot light and putting a pot there! LOL)

One channel, 10 class A watts, 10" celestion speaker, bass/mid/treble controls, gain/master controls, stand-by switch - basic, but all that you really need. Although, being able to add an extension speaker would be nice. One 12AX7 and one 6L6 for tubes. The Epiphone forums were saying that this is self biasing, which makes this very easy to experiment with new tubes. I use this amp for recording and practicing in my apartment. The 10 watts lets you turn it up without your neighbors calling the cops :)

I use a Strat with a bridge humbucker and a Tele with a P90 in the neck, and I find this amp has a good clean to starting-to-break-up sound. My humbucker is in danger of getting harsh distortion sometimes, but otherwise all of the pickups work well. It takes my pedals well, so there really isn't a need for a second channel (I use a Rat, a DS-1, a TS-7, and a Big Muff... but not at the same time). The EQ is pretty limited in its usefulness (as other have mentioned), although the mid control is fairly useful. All in all, a solid basis for rock of most genres (not metal though...). I have tried a few new tubes, and I haven't had the luck others have had with lower gain preamp tubes. However, I found that an Electro Harmonix 6L6 rounded off the harsh high end (I also have a 12AX7EH in it right now, which my Strat loves). The stock tubes weren't terrible though.

I have had this amp for about a year and a half, and it has given me no problems.

never dealt with them

I got this when they were on close out at Musician's Friend, and for the price, I don't think I could have gotten a better amp. It sounds good with the music I play, and it records well. If it were lost or stolen... I might try to find one on Ebay, but I might look elsewhere too.

separate gain and volume knobs are a helpful plus. 3 tone knobs treb mid bass and standby, which is a nice touch.

get rid of the stock tubes and you have a nice little class a 10 watt amp.

Like others have mentioned, this little amp has alot of features for the small $$$ paid. I particularly like the speaker (10" celestion tube 10), the standby, and the sep gain and volume. It lets you dial in the level of distortion you want without disturbing the neighbors.

Stock, I would give this about a 7. The sovtek tubes are ok but it can sound better. Try JJ Teslas or Tung Sol tubes and you will be pleasantly suprised! As with most tube amps, it does humm. I've heard others say there are mods that reduce the humm but it never really bothered me enough to bother. Amp does seem to be treble prone. Adjust the treb way down and bump the bass to help balance it out and it sounds fine considering it isn't a boutique amp.

No issues for me so I'd give it a good mark except I think an amp needs a year or two to really see what it is going to do so I won't rank this one yet.

No idea on this one since I haven't had any problems with mine over the past few months.

I've played alot of solid state and tube amps over the years. I'd say this is a very nice budget amp with alot of flexibility for the buck. I challenge you to find a more flexible class A tube amp for $150!

I purchased this amp new in 2004 shortly before it was phased out. The amp is simple but the gain and volume can be adjusted to produce decent clean tones and moderately dirty ones. The amp is loud for the bedroom if you crank it up, but not quite enough for a blues jam or gig with drums (I have tried it a couple of times and came up short). It can of course be miked.

I usually play it with single coils - strats or a tele. The clean tone is pleasant but very dry with no reverb or effects. It is not chimey. Add in some gain and it starts to sound pretty good with no reverb. I usually play it with a Deluxe Memory Man delay in front and that makes it sound very good.

I did not like the tone when I first got it and it was microphonic. I read about the tube changes on this board and bought a box of miscellaneous old used preamp tubes - 12ax7, 12at7, etc. All of then sounded way better than the stock Sovtek which I pitched. I have not found that changing the power tube is necessary.

It let me down this winter when I was in the Bahamas and had no access to parts - I thought the transformer had quit. I had to manage without it and when I got home I took it to the amp hospital where the guy told me it would cost $50 for his minimum labor and at least another $50 for parts - a lot for an amp worth not much over $100.

Since I have more time than money, I decided to try to fix it myself. I decided it was indeed the power transformer since it got hot and smelled bad.....so I found one on Ebay for $20 (without the second primary coil for 240V). I installed it with some modified mounting holes and eliminated the dual voltage switch. The amp works fine again - came close to heading for the dumpster until I got all that figured out though.

Ordered it new from a mail order house and haven't bothered them since.

It is a nice looking amp that serves a purpose. It sounds good after changing out the preamp tube. The construction and the speaker look pretty good. I was disappointed when the transformer quit though.

I probably would replace it with a Peavey or Fender of some sort.

The features look standard and make the amp seem versatile and adjustable.

Here we go..
Huge kudos to Epiphone for attempting to make an affordable low-watt tube amplifier. That being said, there should be an award invented for making a tube amp with absolutely ZERO presence and/or sparkle. They should have named it the "Epiphone Thud". No clarity here. NONE. And even with the Bass and Mid turned down all the way, and the treble cranked... it sounds like a can of rocks being shaken from behind a wool blanket... in the trunk of a Studebaker... underwater.

Who knows

Don't know

If this amp was stolen, I would pay whoever took it. If you have the misfortune of receiving one as a gift, do yourself a favor: Fill it full of cement and use it for a door-stop.

It's got what you need. That's all. I'm a fan of that philosophy, but if you aren't, shop elsewhere.

The real reason I'm submitting this review is because I have something to add to the other comments here - while I agree that this amp with the stock tubes isn't for everyone, it's PERFECT if you're looking for that intentionally-harsh, dirty-as-hell circa-1960 guitar sound. Hook up a tremelo pedal, crank the gain to 7 or so, and play "Rumble" and you'll sound more like Link Wray than Link Wray.

Or swap out the tubes for a less antisocial sound :-)

this is an update to my earlier post. i put some nos tubes in and the amp sounded way better. i tried a 1962 telefunken ecc83 and an amperex bugle boy 12ax7, the tele won out. for power i got a brown base tung sol 5881 (made in usa). it now sounds great on either clean or overdriven. i've switched boosters to an EH LPB-2 from the 70's. the nasty glass like harshness is all gone now. to the poster below, your squealing is not a problem (well it is, but it's not due to damage, it's bad design), these amps don't have a -ve feedback loop, so once the tubes are warmed up (say after 30mins) if you have the gain maxed out and are using you're neck pickup it will squeal like a pig. roll the gain back on the amp and it will go away. or don't use the neck pickup.

Features have been covered already in other reviews...Anyway, I bought this from musicians friend recently when it was being discontinued, it's the one with black tolex. I like the features just fine, I prefer simple amps..

I use a bunch of different guitars, but it seems to like humbuckers the most...It came with sovtek tubes, but I replaced them with JJ's. The JJ's took away alot of the harshness that it had before, but some is still there...Personally, I think this amp has too much treble, Even at low settings. I usually play classic rock, or alternative/punk...It does classic rock just fine, but for the alternative/punk, I use a distortion pedal with the gain set on low...It's sort of noisy with the gain past 6, but what do you expect? it doesn't bother me too much.

Well, this amp has had a problem.
It makes this LOUD squealing sound sometimes, so I wouldn't depend on it..I think it got damaged in shipping, there's someting rattling around inside. I've only used this amp a few times, so I can't really tell though.

I've been playing for three years, and I've gone through a number of small tube amps, and this is probably one of the good ones..I have an epi valve junior as well..I prefer that, but it's not as versatile as this amp. I don't know if I would replace it, it's a cheap tube amp, no big deal.

Hope this helps.

old stock from MF $99 with free shipping ;)) gain,vol,bass,mid,treb, stanbby, power, jewel light. very basic no frills. having a gain and mv is great when compared to the fender pro junior of the newer epi valve.

i'm using this with a us strat and tele. comes with sovtek tubes 12ax7 and 6l6. i have spare jj's so did a/b's, and i have to say for what i want which is more overdrive, the sovteks take it. the jj's are clean with a tad less gain, so you get a great clean sound but the overdrive is anaemic. i'm using a sweetsound booster, when i put the sovtek back in and maxed out the booster i was in heaven. so all you newbies out there use your ears, swapping in jj's might not suit your particular guitar/amp combo. if you use hb pickups maybe the lower gain is good. what i will say is i'm going to try some other tube combos too eg mullard ecc83, telfunken 12ax7, sylvania 6l6, maybe a svetlana if i can get one.
the one down side on this amp is the tone controls are fairly limited. i never had the treble past 3, the mid did hardly naything for the sound and the bass seems to be either on or off depending on whether you're above or below 2 on he dial.

n/a not had it long enough

n/a

This is cheaper than buying a boutique pedal that tries to emulate a real tube sound. also get two of them and run them in either stereo or have one set for clean the other for overdrive and switch between them it's like a having a 2 channel tube amp for under $200!!!
if you can get one cheap please do. i think they are much more flexible than the fender pro junios or newer valve epi's as you can dial in the overdrive you want.

Galaxie 10.....just bought one of the last before discontinued by MF. I love the tone. To sound good, I set bass on 10, mid on 2-3, treble on 2.5, gain on 6-8, volume 8-10. Very good crunchy sound. Compared it to my Fender Bandmaster and the Epi breaks up much nicer. Of course my bandmaster only gets power tube breakup since it has no pre-amp gain stage for distortion. To get distortion from the Fender, I have an L-pad in the speaker circuit and set the volume of the amp on 10. Power tube breakup vs. pre-amp tube breakup on the Epi......Epi much nicer......Thanks Epi.

Compared it to my SState Peavey Special 130 with Saturation and pre-post gain/vol.....to see how the breakup/distortion compares. The Peavey sounds nicer, but lacks the dynamic response of the Epi. It took me 20 years to learn to heavily dip the mids with an eq inline from the pre-out to the power amp in (loop) on the Peavey and the distortion channel sounds great now with an eq in line.

I needed the Epi for a compact, lightweight tube sound.....got it!
Great small tube amp package with great looks and nice tube crunch........don't forget to turn down the treble.........enjoy!!

10 in celestion tube($40) speaker, power and standby switch, bass, treble, mid, no pressence, gain, and volume, i want to wire this with a banana to 1/4in so i can hook it up to my cab which are 12 inches. i don't know how i think i have to take apart the whole amp to do this.

i read someone say its a little trebly, i kind of agree. the gain knob sucks, but i'm gonna put a 12u7 tube in it to make it more clean, i really only want a clean sound from this amp or i mean that's all i expected, but for more volume you need to turn the gain up too, so again the gain sucks.

i don't know tube amps are tricky aren't they. i was at a small show watching a punk band play and the guitarist had two half stacks and one shorted out or whatever. but so far this thing has been fine.

well i haven't contacted epiphone about this amp, but i've noticed to contact epiphone you have to contact gibson. i've have contacted gibson in the past and i think their support sucks.

i like that it uses a 6l6 tube when so many small low watt combos use el84s. i wish it came with a 12 inch speaker. i wish it sounded a little better too. for awhile i wish i hadnt bought it and i have thought about selling it. i also take into consideration i paid only $150 for it and i'm not going to find much better, of course unless i spend more money than it's worth so i'm gonna keep it.

Everything you need in a Class A amp knob wise and the standby switch is great.

I played it stock for a while then swapped out the tubes. I have some Vintage tubes in stock so I put a CBS 6L6 (with silicone dampers) and a Mullard 12ax7 in it. This amp sings now - the clean is amazing, the break up is great and it's very quiet even playing single coils. A tube swap is definately in order for this amp.

Brand new, but it's pretty sturdy. The chassis is stamped from some very thin stock and feels flimsy, so if you take the back off be carefull!

Brand new and under warranty.

I'd buy another one for what I paid for this one. Of course then I'd have to buy some new NOS, or vintage tubes, but it's worth it. They have a good foundation here and with a little work and a few extra bucks you have a great little amp.

No frills amp with volume, gain, bass, mids, and treble controls. Also has a standby switch which should be mandatory on all tube amps especilly a class A that runs hotter than usual

This amp is not for heavy rock. It does sound pretty bland with the stock tubes but I took the advice of other people here in this review and from a few guys in the Discussioin Forums who seem to love thiers and swapped the tubes

its amazing how much of a change you can get by swapping out the tubes. these guys were right there is a noticable difference for the better and not just a little but it makes the amp sound really sweet. I dont know what a recent poster meant by saying there is too much treble as Ive not had that problem. I do think a tube change is a must for this amp. I did try out the Galaxie25 and even though it had a bigger speaker and more power I wanted to see what this amp sounded like with new tubes and Im glad i waited.

I have changed the sp[eaker with a weber but liked the stock better so I left that one in but I did add a jack to connect other speakers.

If you are wondering how this sounds after a tube change its very nice and clean and when pushed it gets a little gritty. The clean sound is so sweet, nothing like the sterile cleans on alot of SS amps and not nearly as bad as some guys are making it out to be. Im thinking they never went for the tube change. The amp is great for blues and jazz and anything that requires a nice clean sound. also, I have noticed a huge improvement in how this amp responds to playing, much more than my SS amps ive owned so far. those things did not have that glassy sound and did not change with how hard you pick

I dont know yet, ive only had it 3 months but its holding up fine and I can crank it in my garage whenever I want. Now I know why people like to turn up thier tube amps its different than having them low volume all the time

As long as you keep in mind that you are not going to get metal sounds out of it then its a great little amp. I run my bad monkey in front of it for Overdrive sounds and use a delay set low for reverb sounds.

When trying different tubes in it I decided to start with better 12ax7s and if I understand it those are hotter than other preamp tubes. They did not sound good in this amp. Then I tried what others mentioned and I found the glassy tube sounds that are something I hope to never be without again. No more SS crate crap for me. I dont even miss the distortion on those SS amps.

I have also found that you cannot hide your mistakes with these amps you haveb to play it right or you will hear it right away

This is a no frills, single channel amp. Gain, Volume, Treble, Mid and Bass controls - stand by and power switches. That's it. It does have a cool red jewel light when the amp is on.

Opinions really vary here on this amp. There is no question that the stock tubes are very harsh and brittle. However, if you swap out tubes you can get a very sweet tone from this amp. It's not going to sound like a Marshall stack - you're going to get what a 10 watt amp with a 10" speaker is able to deliver. To me, the beauty of this amp is that you can absolutely crank it to provide a nice bass tube tone - dynamic and responsive - that you can use as a foundation for a pedal board.

The beauty of this amp is that you can run it hot - really get the response from the tubes - without peeling the paint off the walls. It's not going to give you a heavy metal tone - if that's what you're looking for then this amp will disappoint you. This amp is no frills but a great value when used appropriately.

In the near future I'm going to modify the speaker output from being hard wired to the speaker to be a 1/4" jack so I can try it out with other speaker cabinets. I think the tone is limited by the 10" speaker, especially when combined with the fact that it's enclosed in a small, open backed cabinet.

I have a Mullard 12ax7 and Raytheon 6L6GC in mine and the combination of those two tubes makes this amp sing! I run a mid 80s Japanese Strat loaded with Lawrence pickups into the Galaxie and I can get sweet tones. I use a couple modified Boss SD-1s and an 80s Rat for my gain structure - this amp takes pedals very well. I play in my church contemporary praise band and people are always shocked to see me carrying that tiny little amp around. I often hear "wow - you get that much sound from that little amp?" Yes, that's the benefit of a Shure SM57 to the PA, but still - the base tone is there.

So far, so good. I've had mine for several months and not a single issue with it.

I got it from MF - I've had very positive experiences with them.

This amp, when retubed, is a very solid 9! It does what it's supposed to - provide a smooth, rich tube foundation from which to build your sound. I've been playing for 24 years now and have owned, or played regularly through, all the major brands. This little Epi serves me well in what I need it to do. If this would turn up missing I might look to get a 15 watt two channel amp with a nice gain channel and 12" speaker - but not because I don't like this amp. This amp is an awesome value for the money - you can't touch a tube amp for $130!!!

Epi Galaxie 10, probably made sometime in '04. Single channel Class A with one 12AX7 pre and one 6V6 power tube, bass, mid, treble, volume, gain and 10" speaker. Typical practice amp, but gets pretty loud for 5 watts. I play harder rock, punk, metal, folk and alternative. So-so for the last two, but not enough gain for anything but blues, in my opinion. Used it for awhile to practice with but I got tired of running a distortion box through it.

I've played several guitars through the Epi: Gibson Goth V, Les Paul Studio with Burstbucker Pros, SG Faded and a Squier Strat. Amp has quite a bit of hum but is less noticeable at low volumes but at high volumes, just play and you won't notice it.

Overall this amp has entirely too much treble, clean or driven. Even with the treble at zero, it's still way too high. The only way I've found to get rid of it aside from a speaker mod (perhaps) is to run a separate EQ pedal through the line. Too much trouble in my opinion for such a pedestrian amp. If your idea of tonal variety is lots of treble and even more treble, this is your amp.

Clean channel is useable, but I've found other practice amps to sound way better (Crate GLX 15 for one). Gain is about as brutal as a butterfly; only useable if you play blues and you like a lot of treble in your sound, in my opinion, although it does like pedals. Digitech Grunge gives you a nice punk sound. When you dime the volume and gain you get a very nice breakup good for leads, but by then the speaker farts out. I thought the whole point of a tube amp was the ability to push it? Very disappointing.

Does not suit any style of mine where gain is necessary, even when it's only a little breakup that I need. Too much treble.

I'll give it a two because I can clean up the sound with pedals.

Had it for around six months or so, not one second's trouble. Reliability is where this amp shines; too bad I'm not inclined to play it much. Never would gig with it; I don't want to be laughed off the stage.

Never dealt with Epi, but it does have a lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for about four years or so, mostly off and on until this year. I own a host of other guitars as listed above. My main amp is a Crate GLX 212 and I love nearly everything about this amp, especially the core tone. Also use a GLX 15 when I want to keep things quiet and a Fender G-DEC.

If you like bottom end and/or heavier distortion, do not even bother with this amp.

I would not buy it again if stolen or lost; I'd never use it. I like the way it looks but other than that, it's dank. I only bought this because I wanted to see for myself what the big fuss is about tube amps and not go broke in the process. While I'm certain this Epi is not the last word in tube amps, I'm disappointed. Sure, it won't compare to a Blue Voodoo stack, but how often does cheap gear compare to big tickets items?

I've still yet to figure out why people go ga-ga when someone says tube amp and I'm even more flabbergasted at seeing how much more money people are willing to spend on them. No real difference in sound in my opinion when you take cost into consideration. Anyone want to buy this amp? Please do!

It's your basic no-frills tube amp. Got it from MF at a closeout price to use as a practice amp. Out of the box, not bad at all.

As a little tube amp, it sounds marvelous. A 50th Anniversary American Strat sounds great, and a Les Paul with humbuckers sounds very nice too. It's not noisy at all -- just a little hum from the single coils on the Strat, but that's to be expected, eh?

It likes my chorus pedal just fine.

This is not a Marshall stack, so I did not expect to get that type of sound out of a little box. It's just a simple tube amp. As such, it delivers.

Seems to be well built all the way around. What can a person expect for $130?

Don't know. Hope I don't have to find out, but I'm not too worried.

I own tons of stuff. I used to have an Elektar 10 that I liked, but I gave it to a friend a long time ago. It had an 8" speaker, but it also had a speaker out jack, and I plugged it into a cab with a couple of 12s, and it sounded MUCH bigger. The 10" speaker in this amp is holding it back. I'll probably figure out a way to send the output from this to another cab at some point.

Overall, considering the price, I consider this a winner. Perfect little practice amp -- and more.

Basic class A, like all the above. I recently built a new cab, put in a 12" speaker and did a 3rd tube swap. I now have a BEAST! It does sweet Country Clean, AWESOME blues and classic rock now. I regularly play at a blues jam with some very good players, and when I first got the amp stock, I was basically blown off the stage. The little 10" speaker didnt move enough air to be heard out front over the band. I've owned enough amps to know this was a wolf in sheeps clothing, and I was determined to build the smallest cab possible to house the amp & a 12" speaker. I did, and boy am I happy now!

I built a new cab with a 12" Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker. The very efficient(102 db) speaker makes the amp now loud enough for use with a full band. I have a GT mullard 12AX7 now, mostly because it seems to give the amp the loudest clean tone it can muster. Tried JJ, Sovtek, etc, each sounded different. JJ gave the most overdrive, but not enough clean for me. On most guitars(LP, ES-335, Tele), it stays clean up to about the 6-7 range on the gain, then starts breaking up nicely. I can get country clean, blues crunch or rockin' out sustain. Not metal, but then there's pedals for that. The amp is dead quiet.

I recently got a Sovtek 6L6 WXT+, supposedly a copy of the RCA Black Plate, Sounds killer. Tried JJ & stock sovtek power tubes, JJ sounded good a low volumes, didnt cut it turned up, stock Sovtek was good, but the WXT+ is better, smoother, louder, better presence.

I agree with the guy who said the tone controls have limited effect. Just enough to give what you need, but not much more. EQ pedal might do more if you need it. These are great practice amps stock, but BETTER project amps. This little bugger sounds AWESOME now. Even though I bought one new and returned it for lack of volume, I bought one 3 months later used. In the back of my mind I knew it could be very cool, and I was right.

I have used it for a dozen 3 hour gigs, and left it on overnight by accident. So far, so good. It's a pretty simple beast, and only has 2 tubes, so you can afford to experiment with different tubes for tone.

At the price they cost used, I'd just buy another used. Probably cheaper than a tech. Couldnt get a manual on line. now discontinued.

Been playing 30+ years, have owned many amps. I currently have a Peavey Classic 30, my main amp, and a Galaxie 25 as a back up. The Galaxie 10 kicks ass now. Everyone who hears & sees it is blown away by the tone, and I must brag here, the looks. It looks like an old radio. I use a Boss Reverb pedal and an old DOD delay with it, and it rivals ANY amp I have come up against for tone. E-mail me for pics & details.

Class A design, 12AX7 and 6L6 tube....Treble, mid, bass, volume, gain, power on, standby.....the standby is great and at this price point, I'm glad they included it. The tone controls are almost worthless. Regardless of how much variation, most all settings still sound the same. You really need to set things at 0 or 10 to be able to hear any difference. Like others, a reverb would be nice. The 10 watts is just about right. You can easily crank it up in the bedroom. A few extra watts would have been nice (15-20).

Great sounds for clean. Capable of some blues tones as well as Pop and some rock. Unit is extremely quiet. Like others, I do notice some breakup when turning the Gain knob past 8. Even with a tube change (JJ 12AX7 and 6L6). I think some of that odd breakup sound might be the speaker. I'm planning on changing that out, probably to a Weber like some have mentioned. I haven't looked it over fully, but I think it might be possible to load in a 12". I may even modify mine so that I can plug in an external cabinet as I've never been a huge fan of the sound from open back cabinets. Probably build an enclosed 1x10 or 1x12.

The tube change (especially the power amp tube) made a substantial change. The sound is much fuller. More bottom end. Nice round tone to it.

Tough to say. I've only had it for a few weeks. It seems like it would be as reliable as most any other unit as long as you don't bang it around.

Don't know...

For the money, it's a much better amp than a lot of similar amps in this price range. I've run various pedals through it and they all sound pretty good. Turn the gain up to 7 and throw on an overdrive pedal and you can get some nice, heavy distortion out of it. Kind of like a Marshall lite. If it were lost or stolen, would I get another.....? Tough question as I've probably got more gear than I need. I'd probably try to pick up a used one in that case, although I'd probably only save about $50 after shipping.

Simple layout, might have been a nice amp if packed properly for shipping. As so many of you I ordered from MF. When it arrived today the box looked like it had traveled under the truck. The packaging consisted of the amp in a clear garbage bag then stuck in the box. The back panel was broke in two places at the rear ports. The guts of the amp were hanging down at an angle. I have aready arranged to have it returned and replaced with a valve junior.

Can't say, arrived un-usable

Again, can't say.

Haven't dealt with Epiphone.

Been playing semi pro/some studio work for about 20 years. I play mainly an american strat, american tele or USA Wolfgang Standard all loaded with active EMG's. Main amp is a dis-continued Peavey Prowler all tube 40 watt combo 12" open back on top af a 12" closed back ext. cab both loaded with Peavey Sheffields ,which I love, driven by a BOSS GT6.

Tube 10 Watt combo in blue tolex. There is a gain knob and three eq knobs. The features are enough for me. I don't like the cheap reverbs that are on amps under $300, so I am glad there is not one on this Epi.
I don't like recording out or effects loops either. The features on this are perfect for what it is: a small recording or practice amp.

I am playing a Telecaster custom with two humbuckers. The sound of the tubes are amazing. I owned a Blues Jr. before this and it was too loud and the reverb broke within the first week. I also had a Roland Cube 30 and let me tell you, nothing compares to tubes! Nothing. The clean sounds are great and the eq's allow you to sculpt your tone perfectly. With gain at about 3 o'clock or so you can get warm overdrive (not distortion). Honestly, I think if you want distortion you should get a pedal. The tubes in this will provide a bit of smooth overdrive but not any sort of heavy metal or Marshall sound. I don't mind the sound of the stock tubes. Maybe I am just not expecting as much as the other people...

I use it for practice and recording and it does fine for both. It seems to be built really well. Compared to the Blues Jr. I had, this Epiphone is superior in craftsmanship, looks and reliability.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for three years, electric and acoustic. I also record a great deal. I would definitely buy this again. I love the way it sounds and the way it looks. I think the tube sound is the only way to go. I hate solid state now that I have compared tubes to solid state amps.

We all know the features by now. Class A all tube 10 watts no reverb blah blah blah. And just like everybody else has said, reverb and an external speaker jack would be swell, but hey... it was affordable! I bought the amp about a year ago on music123.com who gave me free shipping. I really wanted to give it a fair shake before reviewing it on here.

I use mostly four different guitars with this amp: a Carvin AE-185, an Agile Les Paul Goldtop with ceramic P-90's, a Squier Standard Straocaster upgraded with all Carvin pickups and elctronics, and a Johnson "Vegas" hollowbody jazzbox. I've been in an oldies band for sometime and had learned the joys of vintage tone. I run them all through a Digitech RP-7 (that's the one with the 12ax7 tube in the preamp) but I usually have everything in it bypassed except for the compressor and the reverb. For leads I'll turn on a slight boost with its preamp so... kind of like one would use an old Tube Screamer. Our lead guitarist uses a 70's Fender Princeton which, as we all know, has tone to die for. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford a vintage Fender. When I discovered this thing in Musician's Friend and then read mostly positive reviews over here it seemed like a good way to go.

Like most of you, I discovered that out of the box the thing had tone but it was SHRILL! I read all ther reviews in here again and finally decided to take the advice of the guy who said that swapping the tubes for the JJ/Tesla ECC 83 S and the 6L6 GC was the best way to warm it up. I made the swap and he was right. It still doesn't sound like a vintage Fender, but it has a very useable tone that's all its own. I really like it now. The more I use it, the more I like it. That must have something to do with the tubes and the speaker breaking in.

A lot of people on here make clamis about how much better it sounds after swapping the speaker as well. So, I recently tried it with the Jensen in my brother's Princeton. The differences were negligible. The Celestion Tube 10 is a very fine speaker once broken in. No need to swap it in my opinion.

As expected, the amp has some noise (it IS a tube amp, after all), but nothing annoying.

Tip: for nice clean sounds leave the Volume at 9 and control your level with the gain knob... taking it as high as you can go without breaking up. All tube power amps wimpy at low volumes and that's a great way to get the most out of that 6L6 tube.

I've used the thing on all my gigs in the past year without any backup. I've had no problems.

When I took it out of the box, brank spanking new, the face plate was a bit marred... one small gouge and fine scratches around all the volume knobs like someone had lightly cleaned it with steel wool. Everything else (speaker grill, tolex, etc.) looked great. Very cool retro vibe about the thing (mine is the black one...music123.com didn't carry the blue one).

When I was on the phone with Music123 the guy asked me if I wanted to purchase an extended warranty. I asked, "How long is the manufacturer's warranty?" He said, "Lemme look"... long pause while he looked it up... "um... lifetime?" Of course I turned down the extended warranty. :) The amp has never given me any grief. I don't know what dealing with customer service for it would be like.

I've been playing guitar for 28 years now (eek!). My only other amp that I currently own is a 70's Peavey Pacer. It has it's uses, but vintage tone isn't one of them, y'know?

While I really like this amp, and would really reccommend it, especially now that it's used and tends to go for only $110 on eBay, if it were stolen I think I'd save up for something else... prehaps a Carvin Vintage 16. Now... this is a fantastic amp for $110, especially once you've got good tubes in it. I think it was a great deal new for $200. I can't think of anything that can beat it in its price range. We all just tend to continually dream of upgrading, don't we?

Its as simple as a tube amp can get bare bones no need for more features

Im really surprised at the sounds this amp is capable of after seeing one at a local pawnshop and then reading the reviews here I went back and pickd it up not expecting much but it sounded smooth clean tunil you crank it up so I did the tube change that seems imperative based on these reviews and my own experience and you know what? it sounds better than my blues jr which says alot because I love that little BJ and used to use it all the time the cleans are much more smooth and this amp has more sag if thats what you are in to than any other small combo ive played even the much more expensive one great little amp that seems to be the real sleeper of our times I also ahev a podXT for recording and a marshall AVT that was not worth half the money I paid for it I can say for sure the cleans on the epiphone galaxie 10 are much more real and alive than anything on the pod the blues jr and dfinately the marshall ATV

no opinion because Ill have to wait see Ive had it for about a week and it seems pretty sturdy I hope it holds up because I really lovew it The cleans are something special compared to other amps in its class

Im giving it 8 after changing tubes I readr a speaker change is improves but I like it just the way it is Just changing tubes alone makes it a better sounding amp than my blues jr Ive had for a long time so this amp is worth ewvery penny I paid I wish it were not discontinued or Id get more

This is as simple as a tube amp can get, which is just fine if you don't need alot of bells and whistles getting in your way when playing.

The controls consist of Bass, Mids, Treble, Volume, and Gain. There is also a handy standby switch, and I think all tube amps would benifit greatly from this simple but effective feature. It can really save some life of those tubes by caressing them as it warms up, as opposed to just ramming it in like a just-released convict who had his first encouter as a free man

Like others have mentioned here its not the sweetest sounding amp in the world stock. But I took the advice of quite a few here and tried the tubes suggested. Man this amp really sounds good after a tube change. I have no idea how other tubes would sound but the popular JAN 5751 preamp tube and SED 6L6 power tube really make this amp sound like a true classic. Take note metalheads; you won't get any heavy crunch even at louder volumes. What you will get is a sweet sounding clean amp that rivals many expensive combos out there when it comes to a silky smooth clean tone. It does not have sparkle like a fender, more like a thick sweet clean sound that seems to be a perfect base for any style of music.

Cranked up you can get some nice blues grit. I think I am going to try adding an overdrive effect to my arsenal to get more crunch, but only if I can find one that does not change the sound of the tone I get out of it now. 'Nuff said

Don't know how it will take years of abuse but I was expecting something made cheaply and I was surprised to see that it seems like a sturdy amp on the inside. Have you ever seen the inside of a Blues Jr.? well this is constructed much better than that so we'll see how it goes

So far I have to give it good reviews. I picked it up at a pawnshop about 2 months ago. I was in the market for a smaller amp for recording and this does the trick. Don't be fooled into thinking that its some low life copy of a tube amp, its the real deal and has great tones inside if you take the time to put some better tubes in. I highly recommend putting different tubes in even before you turn it on the first time. And while we are on the subject you may want to give something with less output than a 12aX7 because the amp seems to like lower gain tubes.

I could see this used on classic albums where clean tones are primary like the Beatles or Stones. This amp is a perfect pair for my ol'Rick, seems like they were meant for each other. It was either a smaller tube combo or a multi effects pedal run through my small PA system but after trying a few of the hip pedals (podXT, tonelab) I decided to pursue real tubes and glad to say I did. It will not do as many tricks but that one trick it does is much better than any of the settings on those multis. I just got tired of lugging my 2x12 tube combo to practice and then not being able to really turn it up.

If it means anything to you, I have also started looking for more of these little Galaxie 10 amps since I found out they are discontinued. I know how history goes, an amp will hit the market by a not so big name company and people will stay away from it because of the name. Then it will become popular years later based on the simple tone that it gets when cranked. Remeber those Fender Champs? They were looked upon as cheap practice amps at the time but a few years went by and people started giving them the credit they deserved and as far as the one good tone these amps get, I think this is a much better sounding amp than the Champ even though it will not get that dirty when cranked

I bought this new from Musicians Friend. When I opened the box and removed the plastic, I found: 1) 7 (yes, seven) tears/rips in the Tolex, most around curves and stress points. The Tolex had actually separated from itself from being stretched too tightly. The smallest was maybe a half an inch, the biggest about 3 inches. 2) The back panel was loose; one of the interior cabinet pieces to which the panel was screwed had a stripped hole. 3)The piece of wood with the aforementioned stripped hole had been glued to the cabinet, but alas, crummy glue job, it had come off anyway. 4) One of the power tubes was laying loose in the bottom of the cabinet; I imagine it had been rattling around there for quite some time, in spite of the spring-type tube retainers. 5) Two of the (cheesy-thin-metal) corner protectors were dented. 6) The nice chrome control panel was deeply scratched, it looked as if someone took a crescent wrench to one of the pot shaft nuts. I never plugged it in. I called MF and requested a refund and shipped it back. I'll never know what it sounded like, and I don't care. You get what you pay for- if you're lucky.

Bought this amp from Musician's friend. One input, no effects loop, but hey, $199=tax/shipping.

I play my Gibson Blueshawk (single coil Blues 90s). More hum than ideal, but not that bad. If you turn the gain up it sounds like crap, and I've got a newly acquired Mullard 12at7 that I haven't tried yet, but I'm expecting good things from what I've read online. I play rhythm exclusively, and when you kill the mids and keep the treble low it sounds good miced. My other amp is a Music Man, which I still use on songs where I use my baritone guitar--wouldn't think of trying to get this little thing to handle that.

The first one failed immediately. I have my MM for a backup live.

I hear that Gibson/Epi aren't good on making good on lemons, but Musician's Friend sure is.

I have been playing for years, though only recently have I felt OK about calling myself a guitarist. I play several guitars, and other than my Blueshawk they are mostly cheapos. The reason I play them is because I've got them tuned to baritone and alto. I like this little amp, and while I still need to tote around my MM for baritone/backup, it does the trick for me. This is my first Class A amp, so I can't compare it to others in that category, but I've spent more on other amps and have been more dissatisfied afterward. The one drawback that I expeienced at our last show was that I got out in front of the monitors--hot-dogging it with the audience--and I got lost because I couldn't hear myself at all. Nobody else noticed because I did a good job compensating, but while it was happenning I felt pretty inadequate. If it were stolen or lost, I'd buy another, but if it failed I think I'd look into another 5W Class A amp instead, one that was hand wired and dependable. Tell you, though, if it weren't for my baritone, I'd be real-assed happy not to have to carry a heavy amp into a venue that has a good sound system. I'd rather carry extra weight devoted to sound reinforcement for vocals, since they almost never give me enough of that.

its very simple but i love it that way

i want to follow-up on an earlier post.

i mentioned that i changed the tubes (JAN 5751pre and SED6L6power) and it really warmd up alot and i loved the difference. i just wanted to add that now i have wired the amp to 2 extension cabs (each a 1x10 cab) with better celestions and the improved even more!

so i give it a 9 based on the fact that after you change tubes its an 8, and after changing speaker & tubes its a 9.

i am not comparing it to my larger stack or more powerful amps - but im comparing it with small combo amps that are perfect for cranking up to get that tube magic happening that does not kill your hearing - and i actually prefer small combos in any circumstance, i like the detail and response

so far so good and ive had it 9 months

cool little combo that becomes an extremely usable and great sounding combo with tube swap - and even more so with speaker swap as well.

it does great cleans, and if cranked some and pushed with a good boost the overdrive really rocks in a classic way, the amp is so detailed in tone (after tube & speaker change) and so responsive. i sold my classic 30 but i had to keep the marshall stack for weekend jams - if it werent for that id sell the jcm808 and get a couple more galaxie 10s to do some parts-swappin with!

This amp was bought new in Dec 2004. Same controls as mentioned in the previous 50 reviews. Has everything I need, though an external speaker jack would be nice. Definitely loud for 10 watts. What more can you expect out of a tube amp for 200 bucks?

I mostly use the amp with a Standard Tele, and occasionally an SG. I play mostly blues...the nice tubey distortion is perfect for my sound. I usually am looking for a Bloomfield on Butterfield's first album tone...and this amp gets there perfectly. I don't use clean that much, but the clean sounds fine...after a preamp tube change.

And, as has been mentioned in many posts, a tube change is definitely in order. This particular one just doesn't like a 12AX7. I've tried a couple of modern brands, and a NOS RCA, and with all, the gain is unusable over about "7". A 12AT7 fits my needs, though I eventually will try a 12AU7. Either guitar sounds good after changing the preamp tube.

I've tried a couple of tubes in the power position, and also an NOS RCA, and to be honest, the stock Sovtek tube doesn't sound bad.

The amp isn't noisy at all, fairly quiet by tube amp standards...even with the stock tubes.

The speaker doesn't sound that bad after it is broken in. You cannot judge a speaker by how it sounds "out of the box"...10-20 hours of playing time is required to loosen up the spider and the surround. Even Ted Weber recommends a 10 hour break-in period for his fine speakers.

It seems pretty tough...but all tube amps are somewhat fragile. Never, never gig without a backup.

Never needed to use Epiphone customer service.

I've been playing about 30 years. I've owned pretty much everything worth having at one time or another. After selling, giving away, thefts, and dead gear, I'm down to this amp and a Silverface Fender Bassman. If this amp were stolen, I'd definitely replace it with another. I love the simplicity of this amp, in looks, controls, and circuitry...though I don't know why Epi is dead set on using a 12AX7...except maybe that people that don't know any better think they have to have one.

I looked at the Fender Blues Jr and Pro Jr, a couple of other amps, picked this one because of the price, and I'm glad I did.

Basic class A tube amp, Gain, Vol, 3 tone controls, standby switch. That's it. Basic. Has all you need for good tone. Get a reverb pedal.

Played woth Strat, Les Paul, Gretsch Anni, and a bunch of others. Once you dal in the tone you like, it sounds good, like a tube amp should. Clean tones were enhanced by a Tube Change, and occasionally farty lows were improved. Sounded ok with the stockers, but was really made much more useable by the tube change. I have good cleans and sweet crunchy overdrive. If I need more volume or overdrive, I hook up a TS-5 or any OD pedal you like. Sudedenly you have become very loud. The Celestion handles it well, and the amp really sounds very cool now.

Seems well built, time will tell.

Never hope to meet them service folks, but it did come w/ a 5 yr warranty.

I would have to say, post tube change, that this amp gets a high score. I used it at a VERY loud Blues Jam last night, and it was enough volume to be heard over some Loud Bass playing and a few heavy handed drummers. A 12" speaker would have made it perfect, because though it was loud enough, it needed to move a bit more air to really cut through the mix with a bit more bottom and fullness. Considering that it is intended as a mere practice amp, and I was able to use it at gig volumes with the pedal, I am impressed even more. I have to give it a strong nine.

Bought this at Musicians Friend on sale. It has to be of the better pratice amps for the money that are tube, not very loud and no way can be used with a drumk kit unless miced through a PA. Cleans are good and better after a change of tubes. I used a SED 6l6 and a Mesa Boogie preamp tube and it sounded much fuller and rounded. It has a solid state Retifier and phase inverter (drives the poer tube) Its a class A Cathode Biased amp, most one output tubes are. Good buy and great tolex retro amp for the price!

Sounds good with a tube change (sounded ok before) used SED 6l6 and Mesa Boogie preamp tube.

Look rugged

I bet this will be its dowfall if needed because of its price and ...will it be worth mialing off to fix, they wont pay to get it! Unless you find a local aurthrized sevice center localy.

Ok for what I paid, with the tube swap, I will more than likely use it for studio work, it wont have the police out here (i live in a townhouse) it is more likey less than its 10watt rating with stock tubes..I would say 3-5 watts RMS ( have one 10 watt yellow jacket in my 130 watts music man amplifier and its loud as hell compared) Clean sound

Well, this is just a basic amp for someone who wants tube tone but doesn't necessarily have tube money. It has Treble, Middle, and Bass EQ Knobs as well as Gain and Volume. I would have enjoyed this amp better if it had channel switching and possibly an effects loop, although I am not heavy on effects. I haven't totally checked out the back, but most of it is covered with an opening to see the glowing tube. It halso has a Power Switch and a Standby Switch

This amp was exactly what I expected with the exception that it is bigger than it looks in the pictures. It is a little loud for bedroom practice, I'd say, but I also like to practice at really low volume. For now, I turn the volume up to about 3 and put a pillow over the front of the amp so it will sound decent without being really loud. This amp also can be extremely piercing in terms of highs, but the pillow somehow manages to balance it out perfectly. Right now, I have the EQ with the Treble at 10, Middle at 0, and Bass at 10 and the Gain at 10. The cleans on this amp are fine for my purpose; I am not a professional at clean sounds, but I would say it does ok with the gain around 5, no break up there. This amp on it's own does not have Rectifier or Marshall quality distortion; it has more of a vintage sounding distortion thats suited more for blues and light pop or whatever. However, I have an Ibanez Tube Screamer (one of the cheap new ones) and it really makes up where the amp lacks, it can give me that Nu Metal Dual Recto crunch with lots of bass. It does have alot of hiss with a pedal in front of it, but I am also using crappy cables and the pedal itself is somewhat broken. For the money however, it is easily a killer amp.

I have had this amp for less than 24 hours.

Have not dealt with them

I have been playing for about 2 and a half years and I pretty much only play an Ibanez SZ. If it were lost, I would definately buy it again simply because in this price range, your most likely to get solid state crap or hybrid junk, and although they may have alot of features, I'd rather an amp that does one thing well than 20 things terribly. I should note, however, that I bought this amp without hearing it first and although I have played a bunch of other amps in this price range, I never did a side by side comparison. However, I probably won't be looking at amps for a while because this fits my needs perfectly. In fact, I am considering buying a Galaxie and an A/B switch and using the other one for my clean sounds.

I bought the latest Galaxie 10 Combo. It is a sharp looking amps.
I changed the preamp tube to a Mullard 12AU7 and the power tube to an
Jan RCA 6L6. The sound is sweet, full, round and robust. I have a 10" WeberVST speaker on order. This a must-have practice amp.
A headphone jack would have complimented this fine amp.

This is my harp practice amps. I like to play the blues. Since the tube upgrades, the amp is very clean sounding.

Still new, but the technology has proven itself for decades of reliability.

I am an amatuer harp for 2 years.
Because of the price and performance for a home enviroment practice amp,
I would buy the exact setup again with upgraded tubes and WeberVST speakers.

I like the features which are rather simple.

Gain, volume, treble, mid & bass controls. Sometimes with any more than that people get distracted from just playing!

I wish it had reverb but I cant hold that against the amp, I knew it did not have reverb when purchasing it so no blow there.

It also has a standby switch which is very handy when taking a break and just an overall nice feature in the longrun when you think about how a standby switch can make "tube-life" more pleasant for the tubes.

I got this little amp and fired it up. I did like the cleans but something was to be desired with the higher gain settings. The breakup was not very smooth - but as others have said new (better) tubes can do this amp justice.

I dropped a 5751 in the pre and a 6L6GC in the powerslot. This did cause the amp to loose a little "punch" at lower levels but I also noticed that at higher levels there is no indication of that, also the breakup is much more smooth in the sense of traditional tube amp breakup.

The cleans are also still very round and musical which is a great thing, this amp has good, smooth sounds and after changing tubes to find them one can turn it on, step back (its damn loud for 10 watts!) and just rock away with plenty of detail to playing nuances and the simple - no frills approach to the design means you can just have a blast making music and not worrying about more sounds because its a good little tube amp that loves to be pushed.

So dont go expecting a thousand different sounds like your modeller or processor......just good tube tone. This is not my first tube amp or my last so I know what a good amp can do. When you crank this up be prepared to have fun because it really is a fun little (but loud) package thats easy on the back.

Also this amp responds well to pedals so have at it!

The simple but effective design tells me this thing should be good & tough in the longrun, provided you give it the care it needs from time to time.

Dont know, and I hope I dont have to find out.

I gave this review pretty much all 8's because thats what I feel it deserves.

If you are not happy with the stock sounds, swap out some tubes and have fun experimenting because its self-biasing, just make sure the tubes you pick can be used.

Ive had it about 2 weeks and next week Im going to order another. I love a small amp that you can crank and with powerful tube amps its pretty hard to do that in most situations. There is a big difference between 6 and 9 or 10 with the volume knob on most tube amps.....get one you can push!

In all seriousness I just want to say that its a good little amp that comes stock with bad tubes. Maybe Ill try the speaker on my next one, but this one sounds good as is so Ill leave it alone and spend my time jamming instead of searching for new sounds.

It sounds great with my LP, and even better with my strat.

I want an amp to have usable controls and no more. If you need a degree in electrical engineering just to play it then I don't want it. This amp is nice in its functional simplicity. A reverb and an external speaker jack would make it perfect, but I like the design features.

Brand new. I use these amps a lot for bedroom practice and small jam sessions.

I purchased two of these recently when they went on sale. The idea was always to leave the stock speaker in one and do some experimenting in the other. Here's what I did.

Galaxie #1 got a Reverend Alltone 1030 speaker, a Groove Tubes 12AX7-M pre-amp tube and a Groove Tubes 6L6GE. It sounds very good. Nice soundstage and presence.

Galaxie #2 keeps the stock Celestion speaker, but benefitted from getting both the pre-amp tube and a power tube replaced. out went the SOVTEKS and in went an NOS JAN GE 5751 in V1 and an SED 6L6GC power tube. This set up has a firmer bottom end. The loss of volume from the lower gain pre-amo tube is noticeable, but also has the benefit of giving you a little more flexibility with the pre-amp gain. This set up gives a little grittier sound than what I get from Galaxie # 1.

I do not recommend using less than a 5751 in the pre-amp slot. You lose a degree of presence and soundstage to the point of robbing the amp of its identity.

I'm using strat type guitars, semi-hollows and Gibson SGs. Both humbucker and single coil guitars sound good clean. The drive could use a little help, but a few EQ adjustments at the guitar let me get good usable tones. Still, the amp definitely excels when played clean. Its best distortion comes in that "on the edge" range right between clean and distorted where you are just starting to get some nice breakup.

Only had these a weak. Very simple designs. Should last an eternity.

not an issue.

I bought two of these at the recent sales price. I'm very happy with them. They are nice little amps for the money that will get you that tube tone we all strive for.

I wanted to add that I gave a review a month or so ago of the stock epi galaxie 10, and although I liked it I couldnt get over the overly bright sound and harsh gain.

So I changed the preamp tube to a JAN GE 5751 and the poweramp tube to a SED 6L6 GC, and it did just what I needed - it warmed the amp up alot, got rid of the "extra" treble, and smoothed out the sound alot.

It did loose a little volume and punch, but that should be expected when you drop a tube in to lower the gain a bit.

Overall its very warm & smooth now, and if you need more drive than the amp can give just boost it with a good o.d. pedal, and you are set for some good classic rock & bluze!~!


If you are willing to swap the tubes out this can be a great little tube amp, not just for bedroom practice but jamming and recording. Just dont go expecting the stock tubes to give you the sounds you need, but this amp does respond well to changes in tubes, and is very responsive & spongy with your playing nuances.

Great deal on a great little amp

I just want to comment on what the poster below said, because his post may discourage someone from owning this great little blues/classoc rock amplifier if they need a small tube combo for practice/recording and don't want to piss off the neighbors.

You HAVE to change tubes with this amp.

Epiphone picked the tubes that come stock with this amp based on what........sound? NO WAY!!

They chose them because they are CHEAP!!

Anyone who's ever owned a tube amp knows that changing the tubes in a tube amp can lead to very different results. In the case of this amp, it can lead to very good results.

I will be the first to admit that playing this amp with the stock tubes in it the drive sounds are so trashy, and what little bit of breakup the amp has is almost horrible. The cleans are nice though - not sparkly like a Fender but that's a good thing to some folks, but round and very usable with the nice response expected of a tube amp at higher volume settings.

After finding the right tubes, this amp can be a real pleasure to play. No, the overdrive it has is still not suited for hard rock/metal unless you push it with a boost or ride your dirt boxes while the amp is clean.

But with the right tubes, you can get great blues tones, even classic rock breakup with this thing. The sound after finding the right tubes is very different from how the amp sounds stock which was not very good. It responds well to your playing nuances and has a sweet compression perfect for bluesy leads.

Also, with a good overdrive or clean boost the rhythm is smooth and chunky, with a little heavier driven pedal pushing it you can go into harder rock and heavy metal settings.

I just wanted to point this out if anyone is browsing through the review of this amp, and if they are looking for a small tube amp to get those chunky but smooth tube tones for recording or jamming at levels that won't melt your ears (but it is still damn loud for 10 watts - its a Class A tube amp!).

So if you are looking for that amp, do what anyone else would with a tube amp if they're not happy with it's stock sounds - try some tubes!! You can always throw a couple tubes in, see for yourself and if you are not satisfied, take it back to the store and get a more reliable (but no tube tones) SS.

As described by other reviews. No surprise there. No line out. The reverb missing can easily be fixed with a good reverb pedal... but that's where I start having a problem with this amp: adding or changing parts to make it sound better. Might as well buy a better amp in the first place. Let's explore.

Let's cut to the chase. This amp is mediocre. I compared it with a Marshall VS100 and it does not even come close. I was highly disapointed. Of course, you will say that it is an unfair comparison. The Marshall VS100 has more power, bigger speaker, etc. etc. Well. Yes, but I compared the two amps in similar settings: (very) low volume, no reverb, bedroom practice, clean or low distortion, same guitar setting. I wanted the Galaxie to have better quality clean and overdrive at low volume. Forget it. I can achieve much better clean and distortion/distortion at lower volume with the Marshall than with the Galaxie. That totally defeated the purpose. Then I thought, what the heck, might as well push the volume to see what this amp is made of. Worse! I pushed the gain to 7-9 and the volume to 9 and the distortion was simply murky. Another reviewer said it very well: the sound of a rattlesnake. Exactly. A rattlesnake. Disgusting, noisy, I started getting a headache.

Clean was good but limited in range. Distortion was awefull.

Most reviewers shared their wonderful experience after changing tubes and speakers. I don't want to buy an amp and have to put another $200 to get better speakers/tubes. Why would I not buy a better amp in the first place? I did not want to start experimenting and find out that the sound was not what I wanted long after I could return the unit. So, I returned it.

Versatility: terrible. I was trying different settings and the range of tone is very limited. No low frequencies. Too bright, too thin. And I compare with the reverb on the Marshall. Reverb is nice. You have to have it. You think you can do without when you have nothing to compare with. But when it's on, turning it off is like going backyard.

I play electric acoustic songs like "Wish you were here" (Pink Floyd) and some hard rock ala AC/DC. The clean tone could fit some of my playing style, but with limited range. Distortion: no way.

If the amp only works well with single coil, as one reviewer said, then that's not good enough. You can't produce good AC/DC or LedZep distortion with single coils. And what's a tube amp for if not for good 70s distortion.

Returned it after one month.

Only had the amp for one month. Did not need support.

I have been playing for 8 years. Tried various types of amp. Small and large. All tube, tube/solid state, solid state only. Peavey classic 30, Fender blues junior, Crate V1512, Line 6 (bad digital emulation), Marshall, etc. I love Marshall sounds of Led Zep, Slash, AC/DC, Zakk Wylde, etc. I love Brian May's signature sound and Vox tone. I wanted to try the Galaxie for its potential at low volume. If I wanted it to gig on stage I would have tried higher power. Headroom is limited on the Galaxie 10, but that's expected. Where the Galaxie fails completely is in the quality of its distortion at low volume. That's the only real appeal of low watt amps. Why bother otherwise. Get a good solid state and achieve better results if you want to stay clean. Distortion is what makes the difference. And this amp has the worse distortion I heard in a long time. No feel to it. Rattlesnaky, muddy, murky and no bass.

Otherwise, the packaging look nice. Mine was blue. It's light weight, easy to transport, tubes are well protected yet easy to access. The retro look is very nice. The knobs are small but seemed good quality. If only the tone had been there...

It is a fine amp, but for the lack of reverb and at least an extension out or fx loop - but then it would not cost $199 new.

It's a single channel, all tube class A amp.

Gain, volume, treble, middle, bass knobs

Standby switch and on/off switch.

My rating of 7 does not refer to sound, but just because I love the spongy response of this amp I cannot give it a high rating in this category. But I will say I got this amp BECAUSE of the simple design. Everything you need to rock/blues out

Great sounds!

The clean channel is pristine and very round. Not really with the added fender sparkle, but thats O.K., I like a nice round clean sound to work with, without much "flavor" from different manufacturers. The gain sounds are great for blues/crunchy rock - but dont expect metal without a pedal/boost of some kind. I will say, just like the peavey classic 30 or 50, this little amp loves pedals and that gives you all the more flexibility!

It is a tad noisy at high gain settings, but Im sure thats also a result of these tubes (stock).

I keep hearing people say to swap the tubes out - and I will in another month or so, but Im enjoying the sound as it is for now. Great detail, response is superb, and the feel is so much like elastic that I just dont want to put my guitar down. I know I am saying alot about this little beast but think about it - 10 Class A watts........that is a great foundation with so much potential. All the tubes out there to mix and match, you could have any flavor you want. Screw Baskin Robbins and thier 32 flavors!

It is not a brutal death metal machine, but perfect for blues and classic rock as is. With your favorite pedals you can manage any other dirt you set your heart to find. It is very loud for its size, and the other reviewer was right - go easy on the treble, especially with single coils.

The sound, feel, and response of this amp is great. I cant think of anything bad to say about it. Im sure changing the tubes can warm it up a bit more as others have said, but it sounds damn fine stock as well. If it gets better with different tubes then this has got to be one hell of an amp. Great for recording, you dont have to blow your eardrums to get good tones, and a good o.d. pedal to boost the amp will allow you to record at even lower volumes.

It has held up fine for almost a month, no problems to speak of.

The simple construction tells me that it should last a very long time. The reason I gave it a 7 is that its a tube amp. Its hard to call a tube amp reliable (with a 10 rating anyway) because we all know how tube amps can be. Kickass tone one day, then the next day it may sound like its been up all night smoking all the weed in the land with a sore throat - but its just letting you know it wants a tube change. If that happens the moment you fire it up to practice/jam, then there goes reliability untill you give this monster its fix!

Dont know, and hope I dont have to find out

This is a great little amp. I can honstly think of nothing bad to say about it. I would like an fx loop and reverb - but thats missing the point. This is a bare-bones small tube amp at its best. Forget the name brand for a minute and just enjoy it. The design alone is perfect. Just tube power for you to mold any way you can.

There are so many possibilities with this thing, and the class A sounds are great. Solid, spongy, full and ready to be manipulated are the sounds this little monster can produce and thats a fine thing for any style.

Ok, first up, i'll start by saying i know jack about tube amps! Still, i'll go by the tried-and-tested aural perception. Input, gain, treb mid and bass, and standby...all i would expect, and all i need. i spose it would be nice if the eq had more range, still don't go over 4 or 5 on the treble and you won't blow an eardrum (it gets a bit piercing after that).

At the moment i'm playing with a standard USA Fender Tele, and the bite and twang is awesome! great for Sweet Home Alabama etc, AC/DC rhythym at a push, but certainly don't expect any more gain than that. i'm getting a Boss DS-2 so i can get some hard rock/metal sounds out of it, and after i've cranked the volume i reckon i'll get some really great noise out of this thing. Clean is great, distortion nicely bluesy...pretty quiet amp though, maybe if i change the tubes and speaker like some others here have. i can have both gain and volume on full and still not bring the house down. Still, i don't really need to, it's great for the bedroom.

Reliability, hmm dunno, only had it about 10 hours! :)

If anything went wrong i'd just take it back to the local music store i got it from, so i wouldn't have to deal with Epiphone at all...so, "n/a" i guess...

Amp isn't too loud, so i can really drive it in the bedroom, making it sound great. looks great too. if it were stolen or lost, well i like to have different sounds every once in a while so probably wouldn't replace it, but that's not due to it being bad in any way. Great practice amp. Do what i did; read these reviews and then go buy one! :)

Made in 2004? The features have been well covered in other reviews which I studied here prior to purchase. It has enough features for me.. I want to hear what the guitar can do first. Trying to play some blues and rock numbers. Really I'm a classical guitarist by training. Maybe a reverb feature would be nice. I beleive that in many things "less is more" Volume, power is plenty +++

Using a new Epiphone Elite Les Paul Model with stock humbuckers. I sense a great variety of sounds from the combination of the guitar and amp. Sound can range from warm and sensual to clear and bright depending upon the settings on the guitar and amp. I am not sure what I am listening for when it comes to distortion or overdrive sounds. Too new to the elctric experience.

I don't play professionally. So far so good. I've had this thing for about a month.

Haven't had to deal with them.

The point of this review is to agree with and thank previous reviewers that suggested a tube change. I bought the tubes from JJ Electronics recommended in some other reviews and the amp became a different animal. I was ready to send it back with the stock tubes. It sat and crackled and made horrid noises for fifteen minutes everytime I used it with the stock tubes. Had to keep the gain low! I replaced the tubes it came with with the JJ Electronis tubes and it's been fine. Works when I turn it own, I can crank up the gain. No more "pop" going from standby position. Cabinet is compact. It looks great(blue model) For the money I don't think one can go wrong. Our other amp is a Crate XT120R. I've played for some 40 years and would by another Epi if this one was stolen.

I stopped by here before purchasing, so I knew what I was getting into. I wanted an amp for apartment playing/recording, and this has enough to fit the bill

I use a 1982 Gretsch BST solidbody and a DePinto Belvidere semi-hollow, both with humbuckers. I play rock/punk (a la Clash), so I was looking for something straight forward. It really sounds better than I expected. I swapped the 12AX7 for an 12AT7 (NOTE: I did not have a bias adjustment). I know with some amps, like a Reverend Hellhound, you can make this swap without needing the tweak, so I gave it a shot. I have found that this takes care of the crappy distortion issue. Lessy muddy with humbuckers, and has a much sweeter, less harsh bite to it. It gives you more clean gain, but growls when you crank it. Throw a pedal in front (I use a Ibanez Metal Charger and the discontinued Boss Gp20) to tweak it. Also, the lead guitar player for my band plays a Eric Clapton strat, which sounds really sweet with this amp, so good for single coils too. It would be a grand slam if it had reverb!

No problems thus far, but I've only had it for 3 months.

Same as above

I have been playing for 12 years as a rhythm guitar player. I own a Fender Deville 2x12, which is too loud to play at home, hence the Galaxie. I would definitely buy this again, because I haven't heard anything at this price point that sounds this good. Again, reverb would make it perfect.

If you are looking for a gigging amp, I would say get something else (like one of the new Reverend Kingsnakes - they look really sweet). If you want something to use at home and record with and are on a budget, give it a shot. Just ask a tech if swapping the 12AT7 without an adjustment is OK, and you are good to go.

its gotta stand by switch i liked that alot of companys don't use em for that i'll give it a 2 course u wouldn't expect or need a lot a stuff on a practice amp a headphone plug would be a plus.

we trid it with gibsons and fenders playin rock &blues tunes i didn't like it a tall i say didn't cause i already ebayed it i dunno maybe 2 tubes just arn't enough even in a small room it just don't do much the gain is not full its jus got no butt cleans are so so but why do ya want a tube amp in the first place warm crunch it ain't in there sorry

only had it about 6 months it didn't make any trouble and seemed dependable i guess i wouldn't try ta use it at a gig period but thats my thoughts , well my son didn't like it either maybe for a beginner but not really gonna last em long before they too would want more i suspect

never been in touch with em

i been around a long while i have a peavey classic 20,fender blues jr. laney lc15 a classic 30 and a coupla line 6s if it were stolen it would have to be off a some one else cause i sold it i only decided ta try it cause i like class a operation but this one left me soft ya'll can't run fast enough ta gimmie another un

This is a revision/update of a previous review of mine (it's a few reviews down...just look for my name). I'll split this into two sections: one for the Tele and another for the Les Paul.
I have tried several different tubes. The first batch I've tried (which is now what I have back in there) were a JJ ECC83S in the preamp and a JJ 6L6GC in the poweramp. I later stuck a JAN GE 5751 in the preamp. These are supposed to give the amp more clean headroom and tame the preamp distortion allowing the poweramp section to distort as well. However, I didn't notice much improvment there. The ECC83S sounded much more warm and lively. So I pulled that out and put the JJ's back in.

I'd definately recommend the JJ ECC83S and the JJ 6L6GC. Order these a set of these when you get the amp. They are considerably better than the stock Sovteks.

Keep in mind...for clean tone I have the volume set to 10 and adjust overall volume levels with the gain.
For overdrive tones, I use a pedal and have the gain around 6 or 7 and adjust volume levels with the volume control.

Route 101 Rincon Custom Tele:

After having had more time with the amp, I've warmed up to it a bit more. As I said before, the cleans are just fantastic. They are just so very thick, round, and warm. The amp really pickups up on your little picking and fretting nuances and cleans up well with the volume knob. Slight breakup is also quite good on this amp, and very light overdrive works well too.
However, as I stated in my previous review, the amp overdrive on this thing just isn't too great. It's actually quite dissapointing. You really can't get any poweramp distortion at all. And the more you crank the amp, the more trebly and harsh it gets. This amp is definately for low level playing (even less than what the amp should be able to do...the amp does get loud, but cranked it sounds pretty bad).
However, an overdrive pedal really helps with the overdrive and actually makes it quite good. Really good actually. I recommend the Guyatone OD-2 overdrie with this amp. It has good bass response (unlike other unnamed OD pedals *cough*TS9*cough). It helps take away some of the brightness. It also beefs up the amp a bit in bypass since there seems to be a slight mid bass bump in the tone while in bypass.

Gibson Les Paul (Faded):
The cleans sound pretty good with the Les Paul with one caveat: you can't get it loud without breaking up (obviously). You can get it loud enough (clean) to play by yourself at low volume levels, but you'd have a tough time playing with another guitarist.
When it breaks up...it breaks up and poorly. At around volume 10 and gain 5, you start to get some nasty distortion. The low end really farts out and gets ratty. I originally thought it was the speaker, but I'm not pretty convinced it is just the circuitry.
However, with the aformentioned overdrive pedal, the tone gets considerably better. You can get some decent crunch and smooth lead tones at fairly loud practice volumes. The pedal seems to take away the harshness and low end rattiness.
Overall, the amp makes the Les Paul seem quite bright (but it is a 10" speaker afterall). Nonetheless, with enough tweaking you can get some warm overdrive tones (even some nice "woman" tones...think the solo to "I Feel Free" by Cream).

Here's the individual ratings:

Tele:

Clean - 10
OD - 9

Les Paul:

Clean - 7
OD - 8


The amp also works well with the few effects that I have (a chorus and a wah).

Works every time. Although, there is a pop when coming out of standby.

In conclusion, if you have a single coil equipped guitar and an overdrive pedal, and you are searching for a practice (small gig, dare I say) amp that can give you great clean and overdriven blues, jazz, and classic rock tones: GET THIS AMP.

If you have a humbucker equipped guitar and a overdrive pedal, and looking for a similar amp...think about it. It does a good overdriven tone well (WAY better than any solid state amp in the price range), but the amp doesn't have a whole lot of clean headroom with a humbucker guitar. Volume levels are tough to describe...everyone's ears are different. What is loud to you might be quiet to me. You can easily get a good clean tone at a low bedroom practice volume. I will say that (with humbuckers...with singles you can get much, much more clean volume).

The amp is definately a good amp for what it is meant for: bedroom practice and low level jamming.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Master/gain volume combo. Full tone stack. Low power so it can be driven hard without the cops showing up at the door. True, no reverb or speaker-out jack but that's because it's a retro-style $200 practice amp. For a price like that ya gotta cut corners somewhere. What matters most is it's a tube amp that most everyone can afford. Plenty of features for an amp in this price range.

I, too agree that the amp can be too bright & harsh. The treble has to be set very low (mine is at 2 1/2). Anything lower than that & it sounds muddy, anything higher than 3 or 4 & it's ear piercing. A couple of things that I did to my Galaxie 10 to help it sound better was put in a Weber speaker & changed the power tube to a JJ Tesla 6L6GC and I put a NOS 12AT7 in the preamp. The 12AX7 starts to overdrive WAY before the power tube does which is why the overdrive on this amp sounds so harsh. A 12AT7 has a lower gain output so the poweramp can overdrive without being overwhelmed with preamp overdrive. (There's actually a better, more in-depth explanation but that's the best way I can explain it) A 12AT7 will cut the volume and punch a little so it may not be for everyone but it works great for me (I play single coil and humbucker equipped guitars & the amp breaks up good at 7 or 8 depending on the guitar). One of the great things about tube amps is the ability to swap in different preamp & power tubes (and speakers) to get different tones and break up. A little experimenting can work wonders.

I've had it over a year & use it almost every day. It makes a "pop" sound sometimes when the standby is switched but no other problems at all

A good little amp for the money. The right speaker & tubes can improve the sound. Experiment to see what you like.

This is a sort of addendum or sequel to a much earlier review I posted. (Scroll down, 1/2way or so, look fer the word "DAMMIT!" in caps, if ya care) Anyhow, features have been pretty well covered in this forum.

Guitars- Lots, including lapsteel. Most have no pedigree, all have excellent pickups. I believe in the redemption of Japan/Korean/Mexican
made stuff through better pickups, wiring, and determined (if sloppy) playing. My style is twangy-arsed-what-country-music-might-be-if-no one-cared-about-commercial-viability-or-airplay. Yeah, I know that sounds like some sort of sorry-arsed reverse snobbery of an inferior musician, and it probably is in one way, but I like country music and just want to vomit at that stuff that passes for country music these days on the ray-dee-oh.But I digress. Glad I got that off my chest. This is, as I mentioned earlier, a one-trick pony doing a pretty good imitation of a Blackface Champ although with a midrange control and a conservative gain circuit thrown in cheap. I don't care much that it has no reverb. I use it mainly for home recording demo's, fooling around, and I like it pretty well. 'Nuff said.

Ok, I think I said something like "Too early to tell" in the other review. Well, it's later, and I found out it IS possible to break this thing. This may or may not be a big deal to those considering purchase, Gibson USA handles the warranty on this thing and it is parts&labor for 5yrs, if I understand them correctly. More on that later. Most of us who own a few tube amplumfiers have collected a few favorite 1st stage tubes for tweaking mostly more complex & unruly amps than this, but it has been mentioned elsewhere in this forum that the gain stage in this thing is kind of unusable after "7" or "8". It'll squeal, like a microphonic tube, but I tried a good EH 12ax7 as well as a real good Tesla JJ, same thing. (Should also mention to those of you here that obsess about this kind of stuff that the Svetlana 6L6GC brings out the best on the power section, without spending a fortune IMO) Anyhow, started fooling with lower gain tubes for the input. 1st, 12AY7. Too little gain for this amp. Next, a Sovtek 5751 as well as a NOS Westinghouse 5751. BINGO. Full, sweet, tone. You could dime both the gain & vol, set the tone how you like, and just not want to put down that gee-tar. It made me move quite out of my element and into a half-hourlong reverie of Johnny Winter type stuff,(Yikes, had my lapsteel picks on and was just DIGGING IN) when suddenly it became silent, cold, and dark. Changed the fuse, warmed up on standby, but take it off standby, and BZZLAPFTT! goes the fuse. Again and again. To be continued in the "Customer Support" category.....

As mentioned earlier, parts & labor 5yrs. Ah, but it's never that simple, is it?
1st, people at Gibson USA in Nashville ARE both helpful and friendly. I live in Wisconsin.It's a pretty big state. There are 3 authorized warranty service shops, all located nearby (to each other) on the east side of the state, all 4hrs or better from me. One in Minnesota, 2hrs west. Not real convenient, but I realize they can't foresee where people who might buy their stuff might reside.
Another option was to mail it to them in Nashville, where they might repair (or, given their cost on a machine of such value) simply send me out another. The catch here is I would bear the cost of packing & shipping it to them (abt $60) while they would spring for the other direction. Alas, I tried reasoning with them that since any damn fool knows good and well that Gibson is not going to waste any time or money trifling with the diagnosis & repair of a tiny amp which probably costs them less than $75 to build in Korea, wouldn't it be more sensible to all involved if they were to just ship me another while I provide them a gruesome video of the carcass being given a dignified cremation, or burial, according to their wishes? But they were having none of this reasoning stuff.
Some of you may be asking, at this juncture, "Pray, why do you not simply return this defective thing back whence you purchased it??" Ah. I hang my head low, friends, for I am old and should have known better. Please, stifle your guffaws, I purchased this mail order from Musician's so-called Friend. Have pity, no music retailer around here carried these things, and I dearly wanted a single-ended Class A 10W amp w/ a 6L6, for old times sake. Stupid, stupid me, I even anticipated such a catastrophic failure of the device and, when the very friendly phonesalesperson offered me a one year, full replacement, postage paid,insurance policy covering the thing for a mere $16, I tell you, I fairly LEAPT at the opportunity! "Why, yes!",said the friendly phonesalesperson at M.F.,(the irony of their initials has not been lost on me)"Even if it's just something as little as the pilot light not lighting up, any malfunction at all, all you do is call us, and we ship you a replacement! with the value being just under $200, we don't even require you to return the unit! Why,a somewhat slightly dishonest person could end up with two of these fine little guitar amps for just $216!!(Wink Wink) Well, who couldn't go for a no risk deal like that?There is just one catch.
You buy the coverage without seeing a contract. Hell, they don't even tell you it's an outside insurer underwriting the thing. About 3 mos. after you buy the thing, amp's still working fine, you get a copy of the policy, some slimy insurance co in Va. You think, Ugh, hope I don't need to file a claim, and put the thing away where you can find it. But it gets better, and here's where M.F. AND this little slimeball so-called insurance carrier ought to get a big slap in their collective little pee-pees. Get ready, now, this is a pretty high-concept con, as far as mail order retail goes: You may not file, or presumably, collect a claim for complete replacement of the defective device, until AFTER the manufacturer's warranty (5yrs, remember?) has expired!!??! Is this a good one, or what? Am I nuts,or
isn't that PRECISELY the OPPOSITE of what a full replacement supplemental warranty, covering shipping and all costs, is designed to achieve in any reasonable sense? Let's see, a scenario following their conditions might be: 1)The merchandise turns out to be defective
2)You spend $500 in postage the next 5 years, mailing
this $200 amp back to Nashville 10 times so
Gibson can send you another to blow up.
3) At last, the happy day has arrived. If you are
lucky enough to still find your little $16 insurance
p

Been playing over 40 years. I am a certifiable curmudgeon. I own a lot of stuff. I won't go into detail here, partly because I listed some of the stuff in the aforementioned earlier review (if it's important to see what sort of rehab'd junk I own the other review ain't that hard to find) and partly because the response to this question in many of these reviews becomes a rather impertinent list of gee-tars and goo-gaws that usually gives a seeker of information about a product no insight whatsoever just exacktickally what the hell the reviewer was trying to achieve with the object of the review, although we are seemingly bound by sheer awe and amazement to
marvel over the reviewer's impeccable, expensive, and eclectic taste in musical instruments as well as special ee-fects. This makes some folks highly nauseous, and I don't want to be a part of that if I can help it.
Oddly enough, I still am fond of this amp, even though it is presently deader than a mackerel. If it was stolen (!?) or lost I would not replace it, since the only way around here I can get one
would be mailorder and, since I've learned the hard way there are reliability issues, that would be just stupid. Not to mention one mailorder firm having proved themselves to be far from scrupulous.
I love the way it sounds & responds once you get the right tubes in it and turn it all the way up. (that is what a 10W Cass A is for)
I hate the way the power transformer burnt up just when I was really starting to love the thing. I hate the reality and inconvenience of dealing with any sort of warranty problems. I am going to happily pay a guy (who has probably forgotten more about amplifiers than anyone at M.F. will ever learn) to put a new (and better quality) transformer in it, and see how it behaves. I hope this review costs M.F. a hell of a lot more in lost business than the $16 they screwed me out of. Anyone knows that a piece of electronic equipment, cheap or spendy, can develop a problem. I sure ain't mad at the amplifier, and to prove it, it'll get repaired. Stay tuned for the next review.

This is a review for a 2003 Galaxie 10 in the blue colour. It is very cool looking. It has only one channel, but it has a gain knob for pre-amp overdrive. Basically this is a simple small, lightweight practice amp. I REALLY wish it had reverb, but I just didn't pay enough for it to feel like it should have it. It's best feature is its lack of newfangled features like built in effects. It is a classic type retro amp. I give it a six because it doesn't have reverb or a speaker out jack.

The guitar I use with it is a reissue Les Paul Junior, with a P-90 alnico single coil pickup. I play mainly blues and classic type rock, but play a little of everything, except heavy metal type stuff. (this amp would not be good for that anyway, I assume) Unfortunately, for me right now this amp is not that great. It is not bad but not great. I basically have very few options between my guitar and this amp. I know that the Junior with only one pickup has limited sonic options, but this amp adds to that. Of course I am only practicing when I use it, but I wish for recording that it was a little more versatile, and I will explain. This amp with the stock tubes that I am using right now has a overly bright and somewhat shrill tone. My pickup is already pretty bright and the combo is not to great. Of course I can work with the EQ knobs and get some good sounds, but I have to keep the treble rolled off at all times. Maybe some different tubes would help with the brightness of the tone. By the way I prefer a pretty strong midrange tone to give you perspective as to what I am writing about. As far as the volume it is pretty decent, very loud for practice and recording. The distortion is ok. It is a tube amp so you can get that, just breaking up, tone. The only problem is that I can't seem to be able to get power amp overdriven distorion out of it in any really noticible way, its all pre-amp, and I personally think pre-amp distorion is just too harsh to go it alone. For low volumes I can understand, but even when you crank this thing it doesn't ever quite "get it" (the great tube sound) all the way. Of course it is a lot better at the just barely breaking up tone than any solid state amp. Overall, it's pretty decent tube tone and for the price it really is pretty awesome tone, but I still like the Fender amps better, but of course they are much more expensive.

So far it seems really reliable, so I have to give it a good rating here. It is well constructed and it seems very sturdy.

I've never dealt with the company, and I don't know what kind of warranty it has, but that can probably be found on the web site.

I have been playing for 2 years so some of my opinions are not really based on years of experience. I love that this is a good practice amp with tube tone at a really cheap price. I love the way this amp looks as well. Again, I think that the Fender amps are a little better for the tone that I am looking for, but this is really pretty decent anyway, plus it is distinctive. Of course reverb might help this amp a ton, so I might get a really nice pedal, because that can always be useful. The brightness of the tone bothers me quite a bit, but maybe some different tubes will help this as in some of the other reviews. And some might actually want that tone. I definitely would not buy another, but I think that this amp really is a pretty decent value, just try it before you buy it.