Mic input great, Guitar input has lots of distortion with my 12 string, better with a 6 string
"Got this amp to use in small venues with mic and guitar. Mic input works great and amplifies voices very well with lots of clarity. Guitar input didn't work well with my Ovation 12 string acoustic electric. It had a lot of distortion. It may just be me being new to the amp. My friend got great sound from his Guild 6 string acoustic electric though and he will be the one predominantly using it with our bluegrass gospel group since I play the banjo for the group. Overall, it does everything I purchased it for well."
Mediocre tone, lousy workmanship
"I decided to pick this up as part of an experiment. Said experiment was to run this in stereo with my Fender Frontman 10G guitar amp. Now, this amp is just sitting as a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with it's transformer and speaker.
Let me start with this capitalized declaration before relating details:
THIS AMPLIFIER WORKED JUST FINE WHEN I PLAYED THROUGH IT. IF THIS AMP WORKS FOR YOU OUT OF THE BOX AND YOU DON'T MESS WITH IT, YOU SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS.
I don't want anyone to misunderstand this review and think I got a faulty product. This amp wasn't faulty, but that's also why I give this amp such a low rating.
Starting at the beginning, I plugged this amp in and started playing through it, using my Schecter Omen Extreme 6 electric guitar. Again, the amp behaved just fine. In terms of tone, this amp is just "okay" in my opinion.
Another preface: I have nearly 15 years of on and off guitar playing experience. I'm no expert but I still know good tone, but I also know this little amp can't compare to any of my nice amps, which is why I'm comparing it to other beginner-oriented amps.
Compared to my Fender Frontman 10G and another amp I got recently, a Donner DEA-1, this LyxPro sounds shrill with no dynamics. The EQ, which is only treble and bass, reacts to change fairly well, about as well as the Frontman. The clean channel of this LyxPro sounds okay, but can't stand up to the lovely shimmering clean of a Fender amp, even a Frontman 10G. The distortion channel of this amp is simultaneously better and worse than the Frontman's distortion.
What do I mean? From a perspective of simply pushing the overdrive button, this LyxPro sounds better than the Frontman. The Frontman's distortion is horrifically compressed and sounds like the amp is being tortured. While this LyxPro's distortion sounds more open and less compressed, again, it has no dynamic range in it's gain. The gain knob literally has zero effect on the amount of distortion you hear, save for the last 1/8 turn of the knob. I suspect that the gain knob has a log taper potentiometer in it, where it should have a linear taper pot in it. Is this a defect? Possibly.
I decided not to use this amp in my experiment, hence my getting the Donner. I decided to pop off the back cover of this LyxPro and have a look inside. This where I harshly rate this amp.
The workmanship in this amp's assembly is ATROCIOUS. The wooden rails that held the back panel of the amp were not pilot drilled, so the rails split when the amp was assembled. The split pieces fell apart when I removed the back panel, so there is no way to replace the panel now. Looking in, I saw that the amp's output transformer was haphazardly screwed to the inside of the amp's face. The screws were hardly driven in, so when I tugged on the transformer, one screw popped out. At this point, I just removed the amp's PCB and transformer. The only good thing I can say about this amp's design is that the PCB was mounted to a metal chassis, and was grounded to the chassis which makes for a very quiet, hum free amp, which this amp was when I played through it.
So, I'll likely just 3D print a head enclosure for this amp and it's chassis, and just play through it with my custom designed and 3D printed speaker enclosures, but I'm digressing here.
Bottom line: I can't recommend this amp at all. Regardless if this amp is being considered for a newbie or a seasoned pro, there's better out there. If you're just trying to get a cheap amp for your kid, just go to a pawn shop and look there, or consider a Fender Frontman 10G or Donner DEA-1. For an advanced guitarist looking for a cheap amp to just throw around, I recommend the Donner DEA-1. It sounds just as good as the Frontman, but also has a three band EQ, which is very nice to have in such a low price amp. I've also been able to pop off the back covers of both my Donner and Fender without any mishaps!"
