PSA: Monoprice Stage Right 15w Tube Amp ~$190

At $201.40 after tax, I thought "What the hell!" . . . . and ordered one. It's got a 12" speaker, tank reverb, an FX loop and a 1 watt operating option. Perfect for testing pedals and being all tube makes it the final amp I need to round out my pedal testing gear. My Vox MV50 is a nice tube amp, but it's not all tube. As a hybrid amp, the MV50's power output is a solid-state D-class device and only the preamp is tube - one of those neat little NuTube gizmos. So, I'm looking forward to checking out the MonoPrice 'Stage Right'.

Thanks for the tip!
 
I almost bought one last winter, but I just couldn't do it. They do seem perfect for an inside practice amp.

It's showing $237 for me.
 

Attachments

  • 1682451204474.png
    1682451204474.png
    41.4 KB · Views: 32
Last edited:
KR Sound said:
I almost bought one last winter, but I just couldn't do it. They do seem perfect for an inside practice amp.

It's showing $237 for me:
Click to expand...
When you go to purchase it, apply the "MP20" coupon code to get another 47 bux off. I just ordered one and it came to a grand total of $201.40 with my state tax applied. (YMMV) The shipping is free if you take the free shipping offer.
 
I bought one of these a few years ago, it's a solid amp. It may not completely blow your mind, but for the price I would rate it as excellent. I played it for a while before gifting it to a friend (his main amp was a Behringer V-ampire, I had to do something).

I really don't need another one of these, but that is a great price for a very good amp.
 
RetiredUnit1 said:
$78 wholesale for the celestion seventy 80 at CE Dist..... How can they possibly make profit with that???
Click to expand...
Chinese labor is a big part, as well as the economics of scale. $78 is wholesale on a Seventy 80 when you buy one, but when you buy 1000 the price drops. The cheaper Celestions are made in China, I'm sure all the other typically expensive components (i.e. transformers) are all Chinese made as cheaply as possible, so they're getting them in bulk and they don't have to pay import duties on them because they're probably all in Shenzhen a stone's throw from each other. I wouldn't bet they're making a lot of money on them when they're on sale, but I'm sure they're still profiting.

I'm literally in the process of doing a layout for a 15W amp right now. I'm going as cheap as I feel like I can get away with for transformers, but that's still $120 just for iron. A set of tubes will run me about $100 so I'm already over the price of this thing, and I haven't even gotten to the PCB, components, hardware, or chassis, not to mention the cabinet, speaker, and labor of putting it all together.

I'm still going to build the amp I'm designing (probably a couple of them) because it's going to be a really cool amp, but yeah I just ordered one of these. Came to $206.58 after tax.
 
vigilante398 said:
Chinese labor is a big part, as well as the economics of scale. $78 is wholesale on a Seventy 80 when you buy one, but when you buy 1000 the price drops. The cheaper Celestions are made in China, I'm sure all the other typically expensive components (i.e. transformers) are all Chinese made as cheaply as possible, so they're getting them in bulk and they don't have to pay import duties on them because they're probably all in Shenzhen a stone's throw from each other. I wouldn't bet they're making a lot of money on them when they're on sale, but I'm sure they're still profiting.

I'm literally in the process of doing a layout for a 15W amp right now. I'm going as cheap as I feel like I can get away with for transformers, but that's still $120 just for iron. A set of tubes will run me about $100 so I'm already over the price of this thing, and I haven't even gotten to the PCB, components, hardware, or chassis, not to mention the cabinet, speaker, and labor of putting it all together.

I'm still going to build the amp I'm designing (probably a couple of them) because it's going to be a really cool amp, but yeah I just ordered one of these. Came to $206.58 after tax.
Click to expand...
I forgot that because of the difference in their economics, $20 in profit is a lot more in China than it is in the USA. This is for Heyboer iron for a 5e3 tweed deluxe!

1682477894148.png
 
I picked one up from Amazon a couple weeks ago, while waiting for it a blues jr iv tweed with the Jensen in it popped up locally for a solid price in minty fresh the guy with too much money decided he wanted to okay guitar so bought a prs and a blues jr lol.

Anyways. I ended up returning it but not after playing it for a bit. It’s not amazing but for the price I don’t think you can beat it. I thought the blues Jr had a better over drive sound to it but it was also 3x the price new. I will probably pick one up down the road the effects loop is too nice a feature at 200$.

Might mention I just picked up an electro harmonix howitzer power amp had a price drop too. Around. 89 depending if you get from Sweetwater or reverb. Worth every penny.
 
That looks pretty similar to the soldano astroverb I briefly had. Bought new at like $1400. Hated every thing about it and took a bath. Rattled like a snare drum and bright as an ice pick.
 
Betty Wont said:
That looks pretty similar to the soldano astroverb I briefly had. Bought new at like $1400. Hated every thing about it and took a bath. Rattled like a snare drum and bright as an ice pick.
Click to expand...
These certainly are on the brighter side, but they warm up a bit when the speaker is broken in a bit, and obviously changing tubes helps a lot and I was able to get some very usable tones out of it.

It's not going to be my main amp by any stretch of the imagination, but for $200 seems like a nice thing to have around. Worst case scenario I'll gut it and build a different amp into the cabinet/chassis.
 
vigilante398 said:
These certainly are on the brighter side, but they warm up a bit when the speaker is broken in a bit, and obviously changing tubes helps a lot and I was able to get some very usable tones out of it.

It's not going to be my main amp by any stretch of the imagination, but for $200 seems like a nice thing to have around. Worst case scenario I'll gut it and build a different amp into the cabinet/chassis.
Click to expand...
At 200 I would have kept the soldano. 😂
 
Feral Feline said:
Paging all you GWNortherners...

Is there a 49ºN+ parallel offer? Some kind of MaplePrice place doling these things out?
Click to expand...

primecables.ca carries some of the monoprice stuff, but not the full line; likewise amazon.ca. If you're reasonably close to a border it you might be able to get things shipped to one of those package receiving shops, stockpile a few things and then run across and pick your stuff up in person. I got a few mics from monoprice earlier this year and shipping them to canada would've been more expensive than the mics - sent them to a pal in NY and picked them up a few months later instead.
 
mdc said:
primecables.ca carries some of the monoprice stuff, but not the full line; likewise amazon.ca. If you're reasonably close to a border it you might be able to get things shipped to one of those package receiving shops, stockpile a few things and then run across and pick your stuff up in person. I got a few mics from monoprice earlier this year and shipping them to canada would've been more expensive than the mics - sent them to a pal in NY and picked them up a few months later instead.
Click to expand...
Which monoprice mics did you get?
 
I got 8 broken chassis' in an auction for the 15W to use as platforms for other builds. I noticed the transformers have similar codes as the Laney Cub. Gonna do a Hoffman Blues Jr in one and maybe a mini Trainwreck Rocket or something in one.

They must be cheap to build, as I only gave $120 for the 8 complete non-functioning chassis. No reverb tanks, but they left the RCA cables.
 
I will get one of these. Alas, there is a 6-string short scale "project" on Marketplace that I think needs my $200 a bit more. Plus holding off on this gives the wife something easy to get me as a gift down the road.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top