Marshall Code 25chat_bubble_outlineFrom real comments

Multiple commenters describe the Code 25 as a perfect first amp or budget-friendly practice amp, praising its affordability compared to tube amps or boutique gear. It's seen as ideal for players still discovering their tone before investing in pricier equipment.

@kid-hudi

I think the tl;dr is this is a PERFECT, BEGINNER amp.\n\r\nI just started playing, and chose this as my first amp. I think it's a perfect home... practice... and most importantly, first... amp. I understand how more experienced players will s*** all over this, but given my situation, it's the perfect amp because:\n\r\n1) I have no idea what my sound or tone is or what even sounds good. This lets me play with marshall sounds as well as fender sounds, etc and really experiment and figure out where I want to go with my next \"real\" amp. I can download some presets from people who maybe know more about what they're doing. It really lends itself to learning how to dial in an amp properly for a beginner.\n2) the headphone jack. I know it sounds worse than it being played normal, but nobody in my paper thin walled apartment needs to hear me learn. \n3) affordable. perfect for a newbie on a budget. \n4) It's loud enough to grow with. \n5) Being new, I don't have any pedals.\n\r\nMost reviews s*** on it, and I get that, but no one is reviewing it through the eyes of someone starting out IMO.\n\r\n(I appropriately used colons and semicolons so you can trust what I say)launch

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May 27, 2021

@jasonmcmillan4373

I just don't understand the hate, it sounds great to me. And the bonus is that little practice amp sitting in the corner of your bedroom is gonna look that much cooler thanks to the Marshall logo emblazoned across the front of it. The sort of little thing that puts a smile on your face. Fact is, this amp was made for people like me with not the time, budget, or knowledge to take this shit too seriously, people with more knowledge and chops hate it because it flat out wasn't designed for them. Plus I guess they have the ears and experience to actually hear something bad that I can't. I guess.launch

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February 22, 2019

@erwinerwin1245

I bought this amp a year ago and just love it, great sounds and its loud enough to blow your ears off. And it is not meant for a 25,000 seat arena but just for practicing and for that I give it 5 Stars. The way to go Marshall.launch

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December 3, 2018

@MarcRead

I am not a Marshall fanboy. I did not think you gave the amp a review for what it was, a beginners practice amp. You gave it a review for a stuio amp. Look modeling amps are great for two things; first giving a beginner guitarist lots of options so they can decide what the 2nd amp is going to be, and the second for cheap cunts like me who don’t have the budget for 20 amps to do home demos with. As the representative of a recording studio I would have expected you to have demoed the higher Marshall Code amps since that seems something more representative to your audience, studio producers. You dinged the amp for not having features of the higher watted amps, such as an extension speaker, an effects loop, and the USB audio interface (okay the audio interface sucked harry balls). I feel that you bias for the Joyo head and the Harley Benton cab represents someone who has already decided what their sound is going to be, not the beginner who is still cutting their teeth. I believe the 25 watt Marshall code is still a good amp for the beginning guitarist. Going back, all preset on-board settings suck, from the Marshall code, to the Fender mustang to line 6, to the Johnson J-station, so give me a fucking break. That is my two cents, and by the way fuck you Glennlaunch

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August 31, 2018

Several owners report the amp sounds notably better than expected after spending time adjusting the factory presets, with some calling certain tones excellent or their favorite clean/jazz setup. This suggests strong underlying sound quality masked by poor defaults.

@gwugluud

I rediscovered my Code 25 having ignored it for a couple of years. Wow, I didn’t remember how good (I think anyway) it sounds. So I’m kind of surprised, looking around online, that it isn’t very popular, lol. I had a few presets which I had tweaked to death to arrive at some great “amp / speaker setups”. Their “American” pres and power amps can get my mid 60s trash rock sounds; they didn’t neglect the non- Marshally elements they included. And some great general heavy sounds; I can dial in the really disgusting (in a good rock&roll way I mean) Ramones’ 1st album sounds. I think a lot of people must not take their time dialing things in, idk; I’m getting great sounds out of it. I agree the presets are atrocious, though; I’m with everyone else on that. And the price for them new is really cheap. The speaker doesn’t sound to have anything not to like. It conveys everything well enough to me. It’s probably basically an “FRFR”, not a guitar speaker. Cheers.launch

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January 14, 2026

@motokev2727

I love the sound of my code 25.\nOnce dialed in, purty impressive.launch

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January 18, 2021

@donniecook1956

The factory presets really do sound pretty crappy, but improve greatly with a small amount of tweaking. In my opinion, the reveiwer was more interested in being a facetious ass instead of giving a realistic review. The code series amps serve a purpose as a good sounding, reliable practice amp. He strikes me as the same kind of guy who would take a Prius to a dragstrip and whine because he lost.launch

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November 22, 2020

@Bill_Antonakos

I have the code 50 and i love it. As Glenn said you need to tweak it to sound better. I know the presets are not very good but if you SIT down and tweak the presets you Will have a very good sound.launch

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August 23, 2018

Users highlight the sheer number of legendary Marshall (and other) amp emulations plus hundreds of effects available onboard, calling it versatile for experimentation. This variety is especially valued by beginners who want to explore different tones cheaply.

@gwugluud

I rediscovered my Code 25 having ignored it for a couple of years. Wow, I didn’t remember how good (I think anyway) it sounds. So I’m kind of surprised, looking around online, that it isn’t very popular, lol. I had a few presets which I had tweaked to death to arrive at some great “amp / speaker setups”. Their “American” pres and power amps can get my mid 60s trash rock sounds; they didn’t neglect the non- Marshally elements they included. And some great general heavy sounds; I can dial in the really disgusting (in a good rock&roll way I mean) Ramones’ 1st album sounds. I think a lot of people must not take their time dialing things in, idk; I’m getting great sounds out of it. I agree the presets are atrocious, though; I’m with everyone else on that. And the price for them new is really cheap. The speaker doesn’t sound to have anything not to like. It conveys everything well enough to me. It’s probably basically an “FRFR”, not a guitar speaker. Cheers.launch

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January 14, 2026

@hyperdog67

I 've had one since they came out. The 25 is for home practice, not so much for \"beginners.\" I have the 50 Watt and I'll tell you right now: Ain't nothing beginner about a 50 watt Marshall that'll chase roaches outta the room when on 3! One could easily use it for gigs in a good size room. What dude didn't mention is the company that helped develop the software for the amp: Soft Tube. They created a Marshall plugin, that won all types of awards for their spot on recreation of a Plexi. So Marshall did the smart thing, and got together with S.T., went into the Marshall vault, and used the tech to clone some of Marshall's most iconic amps. The only thing I don't like about the amp is the line in feature, so for recording I slap a decent mic in front of the amp, turn up, and go to town. Great amp. Great review by the way.launch

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March 10, 2020

@watermelonhelmet6854

I think the point of these amps are versatility for beginners. When you're starting out, you want to experiment, and having a whole bunch of amp models and effects to play with is great, even if you're only getting a mediocre tone.\n\nWhen I started in the 80's I had a knock-off strat and a cheap combo amp. If I wanted to try a bit of reverb or overdrive, that meant dropping $50-$100 each on a couple of pedals that I didn't know if I'd like....and wouldn't get to try anyway because I couldn't afford them. A whole bunch of different amp models and hundreds of effects all in one box? I'd have killed for one of these.\n\nThese are beginner amps, targeted at people playing their first guitar in their bedrooms. You experiment, find the sound you like, then invest in proper gear later when you've actually learned to play.\n\nIt's like you said, you'd rather have one good tone than a bunch of mediocre ones... but when I was a beginner beginner, I'd much rather have had a whole bunch of tones to play with, even if they weren't great.launch

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August 26, 2018

@Rluce75

I have the 100 watt 2x12 and it is stellar-with tweaking. I also use a MXR equalizer in the effects loop which really helps dial in my tones. Some of the amps a shine more than others, in my opinion. The JTM 45, Bluesbreaker, and Silver Jubilee are my favorites but I have found really cool sounds playing with all of them! For comparison I own a mustang 1 v2, Katana 50, Spider V 240 as well. They are all great in their own right. I think the Spider series gets the worst rap overall, but the “V” series is really impressive when you take the time to dial it in. I have to breakdown and just buy a Helix or Kemper next, lol!\n\nAnyway, thanks for the great video, Shane!launch

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March 11, 2018

Several users say specific models like the JCM 800 sound nearly identical to the real amp, and that it outperforms competing modelling amps such as Line 6 Spider or Fender Mustang for their ears. This authenticity is credited partly to Softube's involvement in the amp modelling.

@hyperdog67

I 've had one since they came out. The 25 is for home practice, not so much for \"beginners.\" I have the 50 Watt and I'll tell you right now: Ain't nothing beginner about a 50 watt Marshall that'll chase roaches outta the room when on 3! One could easily use it for gigs in a good size room. What dude didn't mention is the company that helped develop the software for the amp: Soft Tube. They created a Marshall plugin, that won all types of awards for their spot on recreation of a Plexi. So Marshall did the smart thing, and got together with S.T., went into the Marshall vault, and used the tech to clone some of Marshall's most iconic amps. The only thing I don't like about the amp is the line in feature, so for recording I slap a decent mic in front of the amp, turn up, and go to town. Great amp. Great review by the way.launch

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March 10, 2020

@OverloadLORMC

Man these amps sound fantastic I own both 50 and 25 along with the footswitch. The amount of effects and styles and controls on these things are killer. usb recording with no hiccups or issues with sound or recording quality. These amplifiers truly prove you can jam on a budget and still get that traditional Marshall sound without dropping thousands of dollars being a follower.launch

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November 7, 2017

@pip5528

Doesn't sound nearly as bad as I thought it would. I generally don't care for modeling amps. I prefer good old tube amps, but these do a surprisingly good job of replicating a lot of those amps. Typically modeling amps such as Line 6 sound like garbage, but these amps sound surprisingly good for what they had to work with. Plus it's Marshall, and they're legendary.launch

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June 22, 2017

@Subilon

I don't understand what is so bad about these amps.They don't sound any different than tube amps to my ears.I would use this live for gigging anytime.launch

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April 3, 2017

Some owners report gigging or jamming successfully using a DI box through a PA, or find it loud enough to be 'a problem at home,' contradicting the idea that it's strictly a bedroom-only amp.

@mulliganmaster

Good unbiased review... For those who feel that this amp is not suited for gigging.... Well you are right if all you use is the amp as is, but I use my CODE25 for gigging with no problems. I will admit that I use a DI Box and feed it through the soundboard. No need to \"blast\" an amp on stage with this set-up. The bass player uses a small 30w amp with the same DI Box setup as well, All the different soundtechs we have had just loves this set-up over mic's as it also helps reduce the risk of feedbacking which happens now and then due to the mic's picking up the drums... This also allows frees up a drummer from being imprisoned behind those plexi-shields... Sorry for my ramblings, but out of the 35 years of gigging, it sure is nice to have an amp like this that delivers a great sound and not killing my back during load-in's and load-out's....launch

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June 16, 2020

@erwinerwin1245

I bought this amp a year ago and just love it, great sounds and its loud enough to blow your ears off. And it is not meant for a 25,000 seat arena but just for practicing and for that I give it 5 Stars. The way to go Marshall.launch

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December 3, 2018

@billuminati3867

How could you bash my favorite amp, I always run this and my spider v on stage and it sounds just perfect for my basement shows, you just have horrible taste in amps Glenn.launch

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August 22, 2018

@andrewl5127

There is a lot of competition but its not bad in any way and good in many. I have one which I use at home and fortnightly with the footswitch for jams (with a LOUD drummer) and it copes okay and is very light and easy to carry. I bought it to replace a 5Watt valve amp which was lovely but much too quiet on clean to be heard. I initially tried the 50Watt Code (which is probably the one I should use) but I wasn't using much of its volume at all so traded down as I find the 25 cuter (the cheap finish on the 50 is somehow more obvious).  I find when jamming that I only use about six presets but tweak them to reduce the jump in volume between a lead and rhythm tone. Also I need to use the footswitch - the App is easy to use at home but isn't really usable when playing in other peoples time.launch

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May 9, 2018

Commenters praise the online preset library and app/webpage integration as slick and useful, allowing users to download hundreds of additional presets beyond the onboard selection. This is called an underrated feature that improves usability significantly.

@geraldhoffpauir5048

I got a code 50 a few months ago and i gotta say...i love it. It is a great sounding amp. The app and webpage intergration is so important and i haven't seen any talk about it at all. Yes...you can do everything onboard if you know what your doing but the best way to use this amp is to go online...setup your presets...download a bunch, you have 100 onboard and 100 online. Sounds like to much i know, but you will fill up your list fast. Then crank the amp and the app and you have everything at your fingertips. I have several modeling amps and this one sounds way better than the rest. They are all pretty good and do lots of things but the code50's sound is way better. One more quick tip...You must tilt this amp. I don't know why but it sounds thin if not. Just give it a bit of a tilt backwards..maybe 2 inches and the sound is amazing.launch

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September 27, 2021

@ScienceofLoud

I am very pleasantly surprised by how good the CODE sounds. \nIt's still got that modelling, uncanny valley, sound, but it sounds a whole lot better than its price point. \n\nIt would make a killer practice amp, the app integration is slick. \nNow I just need to talk myself out of getting one.launch

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March 31, 2016